The Year After: Cho's Story
by Myndacho
Summary: Cho finds herself in her sixth year, mourning heavily for Cedric. Now that Cedric's gone, could Cho ever love again? Harry still cares deeply for her, but noone could know, because if Voldemort knew... Chapter 8 part II is up!
1. Memories

Disclaimer: I wish I was a great author like JK Rowling, but what is is! I didn't create the Harry Potter books, which this story is reflected on. I DID create a few of the characters and I hope they sound plausible, and of course I thought up the story. But the POINT is. JK Rowling is the great one- bow down to her! I'm only a fan!  
  
Author's Note: This story is written after the year the Triwizard's Tournament went on. This is during Harry Potter's 5th year and Cho Chang's 6th year. I am writing this in the perspective of Cho Chang because she interests me so much. As soon as I read about her in the HP books, I immediately found myself sharing in her triumph, love, and pain. And she is the only one who Harry Potter is interested in, so there HAS to be more to her than just looks, popularity, and Quidditch. I am very "by-the-book" so I researched a lot and read the books plenty of times to get the feel of how JKR writes. I have done my best to write as she would have, so I hope you all like it. And for the record, I think Hogwarts students are innocent and are at Hogwarts to have "good, clean fun", since they are still young. So there won't be any things going on that shouldn't be.. KINDA.*wink*  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Thanks to: Jessie for persuading me to start writing again, all my friends for putting up with me when I talk about Harry Potter, and YOU GUYS for reading this! I really hope you like it! And of course, thanks to JK Rowling- you inspire us!  
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 1- Memories  
  
Cho Chang stepped off the Hogwarts Express, looking up at the enormous castle not too far away from where the train stopped. She sighed. Usually she was enthusiastic to come back to Hogwarts after the summer. But another glance at the castle and old memories flooded back to her. Her eyes automatically filled up with tears.  
  
"Oh Cho." Kiersten Jolie, one of her best friends, said softly, giving Cho a hug, as their other best friend, Adelyn Roberts, joined them.  
  
"I. I thought I could handle this," Cho started. She looked up at her friends, blurry-eyed. "I thought I could be strong. But just one look at the castle again and." Cho's words trailed off as she started crying again.  
  
Adelyn and Kiersten looked at each other, tears forming in their eyes too. "C'mon Cho- I'm sure Cedric would've wanted you to at least get on the carriage," Kiersten tried to joke weakly.  
  
It didn't work- actually, it made it worse. Just the name "Cedric" started Cho into a river of tears. But she did walk to the carriages waiting for the Hogwarts students, with Adelyn and Kiersten by her side.  
  
Only three months ago, during the last task of the popular Triwizard's Tournament, Cedric Diggory had been trying to reach the trophy. As he and the famous Harry Potter reached together for the trophy, they were transported to the evilest of wizards, the dark Lord Voldemort. Cedric was instantly killed off and Harry managed to escape by wand-dueling with the Dark Lord. Cho adored Harry, like most wizards usually did. Harry was always so nice to her and she felt for him even since she heard his famous story of how he was the only wizard to survive before Voldemort, especially since Voldemort killed his parents, leaving Harry an orphan. Cho thought he was exceptionally brave, considering all the things he went through in his young 15 years. When word got to her after the third task that he was fine, she felt relieved. But then the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore called her into his office. He told her that Cedric was indeed dead, like people were saying, and he tried to explain it to her the best he could, even though she knew he kept some facts from her. As happy as she was that Harry survived, Harry wasn't Cedric. Cedric was her first love, her only love- and he also seemed to be her last one.  
  
During the whole carriage ride to Hogwarts, Cho was silent. Tears flew down her face as she looked out the window. Occasionally, Adelyn and Kiersten would give her a pat on the lat and tried to get her to talk. But Cho couldn't speak. It was too painful.  
  
Soon, the carriage stopped and Adelyn pushed the door open. The pathway up to Hogwarts was lit with candles, as it became dark outside. The three friends joined the rest of the school walking up to the school, with the exception of the first years, because it was a tradition that first years would sail across the lake with the Care of Magical Creatures professor and the Gameskeeper of Hogwarts, Hagrid. Cho's head remained down the whole time, her eyes not daring to look into another's.  
  
"Miss Chang?" a voice spoke. Cho looked up to see Professor Sprout, the Herbology professor and head of Cedric's house, Hufflepuff. She looked extremely tired.  
  
"Hello Professor," she replied.  
  
Professor Sprout looked at Adelyn and Kiersten. "Do you mind if I talk to you for a second, Miss Chang?"  
  
Adelyn and Kiersten looked at her protectively, but Cho felt relieved. She didn't want to quite go into the Great Hall yet, with hundreds of pairs of eyes watching to see if she would break down. Besides, the sorting of the first years would just remind her of the first time she met Cedric.  
  
Cho tried hard to blink back her tears. "Sure Professor," she said in a shaky voice.  
  
With a glance back at her friend, Cho follow Professor Sprout through the crowd. Even with her head bent, she could hear people whispering after her. She didn't care what the rest of the school said. Of course she was still in mourning.  
  
Professor Sprout led Cho up into the old castle, to her office away from the greenhouses outside of the castle. She opened the door and Cho stepped in her office, full of different house plants and even some Cho couldn't recognize. Cho nodded politely as Professor Sprout motioned for her to sit in an empty chair in front of the desk.  
  
"Miss Chang, I do realize that this summer has been extremely hard on you because of, well- the Tournament and all."  
  
Extremely hard? That was an understatement. She cried herself to sleep practically every night and couldn't eat for days. It wasn't fair that she was still alive and well, when Cedric, who had all the wonderful dreams in the world that he now couldn't achieve.  
  
Cho couldn't look straight at Professor Sprout. She fiddled with her fingers while Professor Sprout talked. "I know that Cedric meant more to you than anyone else at Hogwarts. When he died, he took a little of all of our hearts. He was loved by so many." Cho had heard all of this before, at Cedric's funeral over the summer. As head of Cedric's house, Professor Sprout was asked to make a speech.  
  
".but that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about, because, of course, you knew Cedric was loved. What I wanted to see you for was to give you this." Professor Sprout opened up a drawer in her desk and took out a fat, golden yellow fabric covered book. Cho gulped as she saw the words Cedric on the bottom left hand corner of the book.  
  
"Mrs. Diggory gave this to me to hand over to you at the funeral. She tried to find you to give this to you yourself, but you had already left." Cho did leave the funeral early. Right after they flung roses on Cedric's casket, Cho couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to believe he was REALLY gone. No more holding hands around the corridors, no more quiet walks along the lake, no more talking excitedly about their future together. Cho felt as if she saw Cedric buried, she would be buried with him.  
  
Professor Sprout handed Cho the book. Cho felt her heart leap down to her stomach as she opened the first page. On the right corner was neatly written in Cedric's handwriting, "September 2". It was Cedric's journal!  
  
"But Professor, why did Mrs. Diggory give this to me? This is Cedric's journal! It has all his memories in it since his third year!" Cho stammered, staring at the journal.  
  
Professor Sprout smiled. "Mrs. Diggory has a lifetime full of Cedric's memories here," she pointed to her heart. "Besides, she told me most of his thoughts in this journal are about you. She wants you to remember him always and realized that he really did love you."  
  
Cho's jaw dropped open, speechless was the only thing that could describe her. "Prof. Prof." she stuttered, all the thank yous in the world escaping from her brain.  
  
Professor Sprout waved her hand, smiling appreciatively. "You're welcome, Miss Cho. But all I did was pass on the journal to you. It is Mrs. Diggory in which you must thank. Now," she cleared her throat and stood up. "I think it is time that we head down to the Great Hall. I think we missed the Sorting. Hopefully you don't mind?"  
  
Cho shook her head in reply. She hugged the journal tightly to her chest, her eyes shining.  
  
"Very well then; I'm glad. Now let's be off." She stood up and Cho did the same. But before Professor Sprout started to walk, she told Cho one more thing. "Remember Cho, Cedric's secrets and memories are now between you, Cedric, and Mrs. Diggory."  
  
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***Chapter 2 Short Synopsis: When Harry asks for a word with Cho, more than one thing is revealed to her.*** 


	2. Moonlight Revelations

Disclaimer: Once again, JKR is the one you must bow down to! I only own the plot and some characters (Adelyn, Kiersten, and Landon. Oh, and Kenneth Zebral, lol.).  
  
Author's Note: I really hate writing sad stuff, but this is THE YEAR AFTER. Cho's depressed and sad. plainly sad. *sigh* I really enjoy writing this story though. I have my whole lifetime to do fluff. I explain stuff throughout this whole story, like the Sorting and Quidditch. JKR does that and I have some friends who are gonna read this who haven't read the HP book (I know, *gasp*), so bear with me! Well, go on! Read! And please review! I'm sorry this is pretty long. couldn't help telling you more about Adelyn and Kiersten, cos they're REALLY cool!  
  
Rating: PG-13 (my mother wouldn't have let me read the end of this chapter 6 years ago when I was 12. Heck, I don't even think she'd really approve of me WRITING this! I'm still her "baby". *roll eyes*)  
  
Thanks to: my romantic insight, thanks to the many Sweet Valley University books I read during my early teen years. And for JKR making Harry and Cho so attractive so I could write this and not cringe!  
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 2- Midnight Revelations  
  
Cho and Professor Sprout arrived just as the last first year ("Zebral, Kenneth!", "Gryffindor!") was sorted. The first years were always sorted into one of the four houses at Hogwarts. Cho was fittingly sorted into Ravenclaw, which had a reputation for being clever ("in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind"). The three other houses were Gryffindor ("where dwell the brave at heart, their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart"), Hufflepuff ("where those are just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuff's are true and unafraid of toil"), and Slytherin ("you'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means, to achieve their ends"). Cho saw a glimpse of the ragged Sorting Hat and the three-legged stool be taken away by Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor. As she feared, a hundred pairs of eyes looked at her as she entered the Great Hall. She walked as quickly as possible through the long line of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables and sat in the place reserved for her by Adelyn and Kiersten.  
  
"Cho!" she heard her name be called from the Gryffindor table. She turned around in her seat and saw Harry Potter looking right at her. His best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley sat next to him, their faces with a look of disbelief.  
  
Cho managed a weak smile. "Hi Harry. How are you?" she asked softly.  
  
He shook his head. "No, how are YOU? Listen, I need to talk to you. How about after the feast?" he whispered back. "It's ok if you don't feel up to it," he added quickly.  
  
Cho looked at him. His dark black hair covered the lightening scar on his forehead, which was left there by Voldemort fourteen years ago. Behind his round glasses (which this time wasn't broken she noticed, like many times before) were Harry's green eyes, that looked into her own eyes intently. It was HARRY- of course she'd talk to him. He was there when Cedric died and she hadn't spoken to Harry since, well, since before Cedric died. She knew she could trust Harry.  
  
"Sure Harry. After the feast," Cho agreed right before Professor McGonagall tapped her fork on her water goblet. She turned her attention back to the teacher's table, raised up higher in the front of the Great Hall. Cho cracked a small smile as she heard a "Harry, I told you, it's too soon! Too fast! Not while she's mourning!" from Hermione Granger, who was extremely serious about everything, especially her studies. Cho was rather pleased that Harry still wanted to talk to her and not ignore her completely.  
  
Up at the teachers' table, Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat. "It is another new school year at Hogwarts. Of course, we welcome our first years to our school, but I regret to tell you that this year is more saddened and stricter than the years before," the hall stayed silent as they listened to Dumbledore raptly, "obviously because of the return of the Lord Voldemort. We will try to keep things at Hogwarts as normal as possible, but we will enforce stricter rules for everyone's safety. First, yes, we will allow Quidditch games to go on." Quidditch was the ultimate wizarding sport, containing of fourteen players on broomsticks, a Quaffle as the scoring ball, two Bludgers as things to knock opponents off their broomsticks, and the tiny Golden Snitch, which was half the size of your fist and so fast that only skilled Seekers could catch it to end the game.  
  
Professor Dumbledore paused and smiled as Fred and George Weasley, who were seventh year Beaters on the Gryffindor House team, lead the whole hall in thundering applause. The Weasley twins were hilarious and clever, making everyone laugh. Cho was saddened when she realized this was their last year.  
  
"-although all Quidditch practices and games must be supervised by a professor and they WILL end before the sun goes down, even if the Snitch is not caught. Also, no playing during extreme weather. Secondly, absolutely NO wandering off at night. For everyone's safety, everyone should stay in their houses at night, no exceptions." With that, Cho thought she saw Professor Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkle toward the Gryffindor table once again, this time seemingly at Harry. But it was probably her imagination as he said quickly "and I must ask that all our old rules be enforeced twice as much as usual. No wandering into the Forbidden Forest, no magic in the corridors, and students are strictly forbidden to prowl around the corridors alone." Professor Dumbledore's face turned stern, which didn't happen too often, as Professor Dumbledore was usually so good-natured and joyful. But his stern look left quickly as it had come.  
  
"But now. there is only one thing left to do. Everyone- DIG IN!"  
  
The empty plates on the table filled up with different foods, from fish and chips to roasted chicken, and from spaghetti and meatballs to treacle fudge. Usually, Cho would do what Professor Dumbledore said and just "dig in", but she didn't feel very hungry tonight. She helped herself to a spoonful of mashed potatoes and a piece of roasted chicken. Cho took a bite of mashed potatoes and then carefully fingered the golden covered book. She wanted desperately to open it up and read it, but now wasn't the time. She needed to be alone.  
  
"Cho, whassamatter?" Kiersten asked, her mouth full of food. "You're gonna starve tonight if that's all your eating."  
  
Cho looked up and smiled at the sight of Kiersten's full plate of food. Kiersten always said that Hogwarts food was far better than food at home, home being America for Kiersten. Kiersten was one of the only two students admitted to Hogwarts from a different country during their year.  
  
Adelyn rolled her eyes, delicately cutting up her fish. Cho's two best friends were exactly opposite from each other, like day and night. Kiersten had short blonde hair that flounced up and down when she walked. Her light hazel eyes always seemed full of mischief, which said a lot since the Weasley twins were pretty much her heroes. Adelyn was what people usually thought of when talking about the Ravenclaw House. Ravenclaw's were stereotypically "clever", and clever Adelyn was. She had long flowing light brown hair and eyes that were almost the color lavender.  
  
"What that book you're clutching, Cho?" Adelyn observed, pointing to Cedric's journal, in which Cho was still fingering.  
  
"Errrrr- nothing," Cho said quickly, stuffing the book inside her robes. "So is that lady up there our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" she asked, changing the subject, looking at the High Table.  
  
"Yeah, that's Professor Figg. They say she really knows her stuff," Landon Matts, a seventh year Ravenclaw, spoke up from across the table. The group around Cho gazed up at the seemingly old lady, her hair lined with grey hair and wearing grayish shabby robes. She was talking to Professor Dumbledore excitedly. "She sure looks like she's been around for quite awhile to experience Dark Magic," Landon added. Lately, their Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers seemed to run out quickly.  
  
Kiersten crammed another spoonful of food in her mouth. "Hey Landon, when is Gryffindor's first Quidditch game is?" she managed to say. Landon was the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain.  
  
Landon, Cho, and Adelyn laughed. "Look again at your robe badge, Kiersten. You mean Ravenclaw's first game?" Landon asked amusingly. "Or have Fred and George Weasley been on your mind again?"  
  
Kiersten flushed red. "I- what- dunno what you're talking about," she mumbled.  
  
"Haven't you heard, Landon- Kiersten finally settled on a twin. She picked George," Adelyn teased, her eyes twinkling. Kiersten's face was now as red as the reputable Weasley family hair, which was as red as red could be. She bowed her head down more into her food, trying to hide her face.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Cho saw Harry rise from his place at the Gryffindor table. He looked meaningfully at her as Hermione tried to sit him down by pulling on his robes. ("Harry!") She saw Ron Weasley, shaking his vivid red head, try to loosen Hermione's grip on Harry's robes. ("Hermione, let him go!")  
  
Cho took a bite of the treacle fudge on her plate and stood up.  
  
"Cho, where're you going?" Adelyn wanted to know.  
  
"Ummm, well, I wanted to be alone for awhile. Kind of reflect on being back here at Hogwars," Cho said softly, looking away from her friends.  
  
Adelyn and Kiersten bought it. "'Course you wanna be alone, Cho. Just go straight up, remember what Professor Dumbledore said. No wandering around at night. We'll follow you up when Kiersten's full, which'll be quite awhile," Adelyn said, looking amusingly at Kiersten. "Kiersten, you are SO lucky you were born thin." Kiersten just nodded.  
  
Cho walked out of the huge Great Hall and right into Harry, who was waiting for her outside. "Do you mind if we walked while we talk?" Harry asked. "I don't want anyone eavesdropping on us." Cho shook her head.  
  
They walked a little while before Cho wondered when Harry would start talking. "Harry, whatever it is, you can tell me."  
  
Harry stopped walking, right in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Cho noticed he was a good foot taller than she was as he looked at her with his green eyes.  
  
"Cho, whatever you heard, whatever anyone told you- I didn't kill Cedric."  
  
That was the last thing Cho would think Harry would say to her. "Oh Harry, what are you talking about? Noone thinks you killed Cedric," she said as her last word echoed throughout the empty corridors.  
  
Harry hung his head down, his hands on the back of his neck. "The Slytherins are starting the rumors. I don't want you to listen to them. I was afraid you'd never talk to me again- I know how much you cared about Cedric." Harry sighed. "But I guess I did do my part in killing him- I suggested that we take the trophy together. I led him to Voldemort- I as good as killed him." Harry's voice started to crack.  
  
Cho placed her hands on top of his. "Harry, you didn't KNOW. It WASN'T your fault. If anything, you were heroic, courageous, brilliant, amazing- you know yourself that noone ever stood in Voldemort's way. Only you," she comforted him. Harry's eyes found their way into hers again.  
  
She went on. "You wand-dueled WITH THE DARK LORD. You brought Cedric's body back to Hogwarts. You are one of the most heroic wizards ever. You're MY personal hero. And I've never thanked you for bringing Ced's body back," she continued as her voice started to crack as well. She looked away and Harry's hands fell from her grasp as tears rolled down from her eyes. Thinking of how Cedric died was too hard for her.  
  
Harry leaned over, and with a trembling hand, touched her cheek. She looked up through her tears at Harry. She then closed her eyes as he caressed her cheek. It felt so right to be touched again.  
  
Tears still flowing down her face, she felt Harry's body come closer to hers. Her lips touched Harry's, both of them melting into a salty, passionate kiss. It was as if her mouth obeyingly open and she felt his tongue slide tenderly into her mouth. With each press of her lips, Cho's heart yearned for more. She felt everything, yet nothing at the same time. Her mouth, tongue, lips pressed harder and harder into Harry's, as if they were deprived from something important and just got it back.  
  
The two edged closer together, both seemed to not wanting to part from the kiss. Cho's hands traveled up to Harry's head, messing up his black hair, and his hands settled around Cho's waist. The kiss was enchanting. It felt right- never had she felt like this since-  
  
Cedric!  
  
Cho's eyes opened consciously as she came back to reality. Aided by the moonlight, she could see that Harry's eyes were closed as he seemed to enjoy the moment. Cho pulled away quickly and took her hands away from his hair.  
  
Harry looked at her again, this time painfully. Silence filled the corridors. "Cedric," he finally said.  
  
Cho only nodded, not daring to say a thing. Tears welled up in her eyes again and she turned and ran away as fast as she could from that seemingly surreal moment. She stopped for a breath after passing by another corner. Outside the windows, she could see the moon appearing from behind the clouds and her breathing grew shorter. Cho leaned up against the cold grey stone wall. Her fingers reached up to her lips and she closed her eyes again, thinking back to that kiss that never should have happened.  
  
Suddenly, something fell from her robes and made a loud clap as it struck the ground. Cho sank down to the ground, her shaking hand outstretched to reach for the yellow object. She opened the journal to a random page, and by the moonlight, she could make out a picture. It was a wizarding picture, where the people in the pictures were able to move around. Cho recognized that the picture was taken from last year, the morning after the Yule Ball. She didn't remember who took it, but it didn't matter. It was taken from the sides of Cedric and Cho. Cedric's hand kept sweeping over Cho's face to pull back a stray hair and they both looked right into each others eyes, the smiles that they both wore were genuine, carefree, and happy. It was plain to see that they were in love.  
  
Cho traced her fingers on Cedric's face. He was so handsome- inside and out.  
  
"I'm sorry Ced."  
  
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***Chapter 3 Short Synopsis: Rumors spread about Cedric. How can Cho be sure that it WASN'T Harry that killed Cedric?*** 


	3. Rumors

Disclaimer: Only a fan, just writing a fanfic. Wish the Harry Potter theme was mine- I could use some money! But they're JKR's. Just the plot and some characters are mine!  
  
Author's Note: I know that a lot of people don't think of Cho and Cedric connecting in a really close and personal level like I do, but that's cos I imagine a lot of things between them. Some people might think they only went out for that six months after the Yule Ball, but I've always imagined the relationship was there for much longer. I'm planning to write about the year before, but not for awhile. In the meanwhile, imagine that Cho and Cedric were really really really close, like talking about their future together and stuff. Ok? Oh, btw, this isn't one of the best chapters I've done but doesn't it sound familiar the way Hogwarts, the students, and teachers are? Plus it sets one of the plots *wink*  
  
Rating: PG-13, although not in this chapter  
  
Thanks to: my reviewers! Thanks for your reviews you guys!!! I really really really appreciate them! Thanks to the library for letting me use the internet today cos I won't be home all day. Hmmmm- that's about it!  
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 3- Rumors  
  
The next morning, Cho woke up, a stream of sunlight shining directly on her face. She turned over on her other side, memories of the night before flooding in her head. It all seemed like a dream. Having no idea how long she stayed down in the corridors, she walked back up to the Ravenclaw Tower unknowingly. Her friends sat in the common room, worried where she was because of Dumbledore's warning. Cho wasn't willing to share where she was and who she was with, unlike the many times she was off with Cedric. This time it wasn't the same.  
  
"Cho, you'd better get up before we miss breakfast," she heard Kiersten say. She opened her eyes and smiled as Kiersten hopped around the room in circles, trying to put on her kneehighs.  
  
Adelyn, Cho, and Kiersten shared a room with the other two Ravenclaw sixth years, Jessica Langton and Tabitha Weldon. They were all very good friends and usually hung out together.  
  
Jessica walked right up to Cho's bed and leaned over, a big grin on her face. "Rise and shine! First days of classes!" she sang.  
  
Cho groaned, pulling the covers of her bedspread up to her face. "You're way too cheerful for me in the mornings, Jessica." 'Especially today,' she thought.  
  
Jessica pulled off Cho's covers and crossed her arms. "I'm waiting."  
  
Rolling her eyes, Cho rose from her bed. "Ok, ok, you win." When she was ready, Jessica, Kiersten, and Tabitha had already left for the Great Hall. Kiersten said she couldn't wait for breakfast. It was a wonder how Kiersten kept slim.  
  
Adelyn sat down next to Cho as she was putting up her silky raven-colored hair up into a ponytail. "Is there something you need to talk about, Cho?" she asked, concern mounting in her eyes. I know you went off with Harry Potter last night after the feast. You KNOW you can tell me anything."  
  
Cho remained silent.  
  
"Cho, please. I miss the Cho before Cedric died. I wish you came back. I've known you since we were two, you've never been like this before. You used to smile more, laugh often, and joke around a lot. That's why you're so popular- everyone wants to be around you. Cedric was great- everyone loved him. But Cho, you've gotta let him go. Cedric wouldn't have wanted you suffering like this."  
  
"You don't understand, Lyn. And I hope you never do understand." Cho stood up. "We should be going down to breakfast now, don't you think?"  
  
Adelyn opened her mouth as to say something else but she decided against it. They both went down to the Great Hall, which was buzzing with students. Cho sat down across from the fifth year Ravenclaw girls, putting some hot cakes on her plate as Kiersten passed them to her. The fifth years looked up and said hi to Cho, then went back to talking. She could hear little snippets of their conversation.  
  
"-sure Parvati likes Harry- who doesn't? But there's a rumor that he likes someone else," Padma Patil said, her long braided hair swishing side to side as she turned to her friends. Parvati was Padma's twin sister in Gryffindor.  
  
"Oooh, do you think it's Hermione Granger?" Lisa Turpin asked, her eyes wide.  
  
Padma laughed. "Hermione? No, they're just best friends, Parvati says. Besides, she's still keeping in touch with Viktor Krum." All the girls giggled. Krum was the famous international Quidditch Seeker for Bulgaria who came to Hogwarts last year as the Durmstrang school champion for the Triwizard's Tournament.  
  
"*I* heard that Harry liked someone from Ravenclaw," Mandy Brocklehurst chipped in. The girls all giggled again. "If only! But I wouldn't want to go out with Harry now, not with what people are saying." Mandy whispered the last words and from the corner of her eye, Cho say the girls look at her. She pretended she didn't notice and went on eating her breakfast.  
  
Gossip as usual, Cho thought, buttering her toast. Rumors were found easy and often at Hogwarts, no matter what year you were in. At the mention of Harry, Cho looked behind her at the Gryffindor table, but he wasn't there. In fact, he wasn't in the Great Hall at all.  
  
She wanted to talk to him- she NEEDED to talk to him. But she had no idea what she would say.  
  
"Cho!!"  
  
Cho jumped as pairs of eyes around her stared at her. She quickly reached over and passed over the plate of bacon, mumbling "Bacon, right? Sorry, I was thinking."  
  
Adelyn, seeing how uncomfortable Cho looked, changing the subject. "You had advanced Muggle Studies the year before, Cho. How was it? I'm afraid I won't do as well as the rest of the class since I started Muggle Studies a year late." Cho knew quite a lot about Muggles since she spent many summer and Christmas' at her Aunt Lei's house. Aunt Lei was a Squib, but it all worked out fine, since she married a Muggle and they had three kids around Cho's age who were all Squibs as well. The Muggle Studies professor moved Cho up into the third year Muggle Studies class when she was in her second year.  
  
"Advanced Muggle Studies was fun. We learned about the Internet and how to make website," Cho started.  
  
"Internet? Oh, like on those kumpootors?" Kiersten asked, her eyes wide.  
  
Cho laughed. "Yeah, like on computers."  
  
Jessica shook her head as she drained the last of her juice. "Muggles, always having to use complicated sorts."  
  
Adelyn nodded. "A quill, parchment, owl, and book would suite me fine, thanks."  
  
As the students were finishing up their breakfast, the head of each house came around, passing out slips of parchment that had their schedules on them. Professor Flitwick, Ravenclaw's Head of House, could hardly be seen with the schedules since he was a tiny wizard. But he expertly weaved through the Great Hall, sticking out parchment between his students.  
  
"Yeah, but- ooh! Oh, thanks Professor," Kiersten started, interrupted by Professor Flitwick's arm sticking out in the space between Kiersten and Jessica with their schedules.  
  
The whole Great Hall burst out with sudden chatter.  
  
"We all have Tranfiguration first today with Slytherin and then Charms class before lunch. I have Astronomy after- what do you two have?" Kiersten said over the loud chatter, trying to read Adelyn and Cho's schedules.  
  
"I have Muggle studies and Cho has-" Adelyn leaned over to read Cho's paper. "Divination? I thought you didn't like Professor Trelawney."  
  
Cho shrugged. "I don't. I wanted to get out of her class but Professor Trelawney persuaded me to come back. She says I have a great Inner Eye." She laughed. "Whatever that means But Divination comes easy to me, so why not stick to it?"  
  
Kiersten's hazel eyes got big. "Wait, so you actually SEE visions?"  
  
"Most of the time in the crystal ball. I'm not very good with tea leaves though. They all look like a clump to me. Wish I didn't have the Inner Eye or I'd be taking Astronomy with you, Kiersten." Cho finished her juice, looking at her watch. "We should get going."  
  
The girls stood up and walked out of the Great Hall to Professor McGonagall's classroom. Adelyn, Cho, and Kiersten took a seat in the front of the class. This year, Ravenclaw had Transfiguration with Slytherin, who were repudiated to be the "dark wizard" house. But Cho never had any problems with them, except maybe during Quidditch game days.  
  
"Hi Cho," Farah Dawson greeted her from behind. Farah was a tall Slytherin girl with tight black curls and a rather up-turned nose. Her features gave everyone a first impression that Farah was stuck up. Of course, it was a fair first impression because it was true---  
  
"Hello Farah," Cho said as Thomas Friskin took a seat next to Farah. He said hi to both Cho and Farah. Cho noticed his arm was in a cast. "Errr, Thomas- your arm-"  
  
"Oh, we had Quidditch practice one week at Malfoy's during the summer and I fell thirty feet off my broomstick. The ground was soft enough because that place is paradise- even the grass is perfect- but I landed right on my arm."  
  
Farah looked concerned and touched Thomas' arm. "Oh, poor Thomas! Does it hurt much?" she cooed.  
  
He grimaced as she touched the cast. "Not too much. I'll be ready next week for Quidditch, Pomfrey said. Ready to get slaughtered in Quidditch, Ravenclaw Seeker?" he asked Cho. Thomas was the Slytherin Keeper.  
  
Professor McGonagall showed up in front of the class right as Cho was going to reply. The class quickly copied down notes about transfiguring fast moving objects and Professor McGonagall had the whole class split up into groups of four when they finished the notes. They were to transfigure faster animals before transfiguring humans next term, which was extremely tricky.  
  
Unfortunately, Adelyn, Cho, and Kiersten got split up. Cho was on good terms with all the students in her year though, so she wasn't worried when Farah, Thomas, and Paul Arland, who was also in Ravenclaw, joined her.  
  
Professor McGonagall had placed a raccoon on each table, it being a larger, faster animal. Paul rolled up his sleeves, being the first to try to transfigure the raccoon into a wizard's hat. The poor thing was running around the table, trying to get away from Paul's wand. "Hey you, stop moving- how in Merlin's beard am I going to transfigure you then?" he mumbled.  
  
"Thomas, you were saying you went over to Draco Malfoy's mansion?" Farah asked as the raccoon ran over to her, trying to avoid the streak of light from Paul's wand. McGonagall's tables were made from some kind of anti- magic wood so that any magic except for the strong kind could change it. "Is the mansion really as big as they say?"  
  
Thomas smirked and took a seat next to Cho. "Yep. The Malfoys have dozens of house elves, three different shaped swimming pools, and a hell of a backyard, as big as a Quidditch field, where we played."  
  
Farah put her head on the palms of her hands, looking into space dreamingly. "Draco Malfoy is so handsome and clever. He's wonderful at Quidditch too."  
  
The raccoon was now scuttling towards Cho. "Wish you were a year younger, Farah?" Thomas snickered. "Him and Pansy Parkinson are quite chummy, sorry to tell you."  
  
Farah looked heartbroken.  
  
There was a flash of light as the raccoon right in front of Cho turned into a black top hat. Professor McGonagall walked over. "A blue wizard's hat, Mr. Arland, A BLUE WIZARD'S HAT!" she barked, and with a swish of her wand, she turned the top hat back into the confused raccoon. She nodded towards Farah. "Miss Dawson, you next."  
  
Thomas glanced over at Cho. "Speaking of Malfoy, Cho, he told me something interesting."  
  
Cho raised her eyebrows. "Oh really. What did Draco say?" Draco Malfoy was one of those people who were popular because of his family's title in the wizarding world. Personally, she thought the so-called "Prince of Slytherins" was rude and certainly arrogant.  
  
Thomas leaned over the table as the raccoon shot past his face. "He says the ever-so-famous Harry Potter was the one who killed Diggory at the final task last year, not You-Know-Who."  
  
Farah gasped loudly, her wand pointing up at Cho, Paul, and Thomas as they ducked out of her way. Paul looked back up, staring at Cho, and then back at Thomas. Thomas took Farah's wand from her, putting it safely on the table.  
  
Cho remembered Harry's words from the other night. "The Slytherins are starting the rumors. I don't want you to listen to them." She shook her hand.  
  
"Thomas, Draco Malfoy clearly has his facts mixed up. Harry, kill Cedric? You heard Professor Dumbledore. Voldemort's back- HE killed Ced."  
  
The three listening flinched as she said "Voldemort." Only recently had Cho started to say "Voldemort" instead of the more pleasant "He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named". Ever since Cedric died and Voldemort was back, she didn't think there was a need to leave someone who killed someone close to her without a name. It wasn't right that Voldemort was not even mentioned by name because, like he wanted, everyone feared him. It was a little victory for him. Besides, if the greatest wizard of all, Dumbledore, and the Boy Who Survived Voldemort himself, Harry, didn't bother with extraneous words, why should she?  
  
Farah put her hands on Cho's. "Oh Cho! You are too brave for your own good!"  
  
Thomas sighed, putting a temporary stunning spell on the raccoon to stop it from squealing and running back and forth. "Listen, Cho, I know that you and Potter are friends but Malfoy's dad-he, he KNOWS things. Malfoy's almost never wrong about these things."  
  
Cho looked into Thomas' serious eyes. "Really Thomas, WHY would Harry kill Cedric?"  
  
He shrugged. "Loads of reasons." Thomas started ticking off fingers as he listed things. "He wanted the win himself. He wanted revenge on that one Quidditch game he lost when playing against Diggory. He wanted to be the only Hogwarts champion. He was mad that Cedric got you first-"  
  
Cho frowned at him. "Got me first? You mean how Cedric asked me to the Yule Ball first?"  
  
Thomas smiled. "Well, that too." Cho looked at him quizzingly. "Yes, I know Potter asked you to the Yule Ball. But that wasn't what I meant."  
  
Cho crossed her arms impatiently. "Thomas, stop trying to be mysterious. Out with it now."  
  
He just kept on smiling. "Ahhhh, you don't know. Potter, Potter, whatever shall we do with you?"  
  
Cho sighed. "I don't want to know anyways, because Harry DIDN'T kill Cedric. When WILL you stop spreading untrue rumors?" she said, exasperated. "Ennervate," she waved her wand at the unconscious raccoon, reviving it.  
  
Thomas watched as Cho tried to transfigure the raccoon. "I'm only warning you, for your own sake."  
  
"Are you saying that Harry's going to try to kill me next?" Cho asked amusingly. Her light beam hit directly at the running raccoon and it suddenly turned into a blue wizard's hat.  
  
"Excellent Miss Chang," Professor McGonagall praised, lifting up the hat and examining it. "Very satisfactory. A few dark patches of fur aside, well done. Ten points to Ravenclaw," she added before changing the hat back into the raccoon. A bell rang, indicating the end of their class.  
  
"Some people do odd things for love, Cho, I'm only saying that," Thomas said to her as he headed out the door.  
  
"Love? Why is Thomas talking about love?" Adelyn asked, overhearing Thomas' comment as she walked to Cho.  
  
Cho shrugged. "I have no idea."  
  
Love- what did love have to do with Harry Potter?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
***Chapter 4: Part I Short Synopsis: Will Cho ever fly again?*** 


	4. Learning to Fly Again Chapter 4: Part I

Disclaimer: Harry Potter theme = JKR. Plot and some characters = mine!  
  
Author's Note: I LOVE QUIDDITCH! The best sport ever, next to tennis and maybe even equal to volleyball. Yeah, so that's what this chapter is all about. Quidditch does the body good! This may seem long, but it's got an easy plot to it.  
  
This chapter is SUPER long, I guess it's cos I had to talk about Professor Trelawney cos she's hilarious. And a bit about the journal. And the rest is about the Quidditch. But it's not all what I wanted to say about Quidditch (there's so much more to go over). So I've decided to split the chapter up to Part I and Part II cos I'm sure y'all don't wanna read a 4000 word chapter! So this is Part I- I'll be posting up Part II soon enough.  
  
Oh, and I started reading "Quidditch Through the Ages" (great book, btw), using it as an aid for my story. The team that Cedric was to be signed up with, the Montrose Magpies, are number one in their league, meaning that Ced had to be really good to be signed up. Just a little trivia- thought y'all might be interested!  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Thanks to: Jessie, again, for always coming back to check out my stories. Y'all have to check out her stories- RainShadow. She's got real good ones about HP and LoTR. ALL you reviewers- you all don't now how much your reviews mean! Heather- yep, this IS a really sad story, huh? I'm really glad you like it. Christie- I love the kiss too- it's one of my favorite parts, even if it's sad! Lilaznpinky525- keep on reading the story. won't give you any hints of what I'm gonna do but you'll enjoy it, I'm sure!  
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 4: Part I- Learning to Fly Again  
  
After Transfiguration, Ravenclaw had Charms with Hufflepuff where they took tedious notes on the complicated Lokiarment Charm which locked a room that could not be opened, even with the Alohomora Spell, without the spell placer's permission. The Lokiarment Charm sounded easy to do, but the incantation was so close to the Binding Spell that if you said one syllable wrong, you could put a binding spell on yourself that was difficult to undo. For this, Professor Flitwick insisted that they take thorough notes on the charm and practice saying it over and over again before attempting it. Even though Cho loved Charms class, she couldn't wait for lunch after the first four parchments of notes.  
  
"Oh, thank goodness, food," Kiersten sighed, plopping down at the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"Cho," Landon Matts seated himself next to Cho. "We're having a Quidditch meeting today before supper to discuss new plans and players."  
  
Cho felt her face turn red. "Actually, Landon, I wanted to talk to you about that."  
  
Landon poured pumpkin juice into his goblet. "I'm all ears," he said, drinking his juice.  
  
"I don't know if I want to stay on the team."  
  
Pumpkin juice sprayed all over the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"WHAT? But, but you CAN'T! You're the best Seeker we've had in year. WHY would you want to leave the team?" Landon exclaimed, looking bewildered.  
  
Cho lowered her voice down to a whisper. "I just don't feel like flying anymore."  
  
Landon's gaze softened. "Cho, I know it's been hard since Cedric died. But I'm sure that he'd want you to keep on playing."  
  
Cho looked down at her empty plate. "I know. It's just really hard. Cedric really loved Quidditch and every time I even think of it, I'm reminded more and more of him. Did you know he was to be signed up with the Montrose Magpies?"  
  
"No," Landon said softly.  
  
Cho looked up at the enchanted Great Hall ceiling, today a very clear sky blue color. She wasn't going to start tearing up in front of Landon.  
  
"When I heard you turned down the Ravenclaw captain position, I knew it had to do with Cedric but I didn't think you'd give up Quidditch all together. Cho, you were born to be a Seeker. At least come to the meeting and think about it. Our first practice isn't until a few weeks."  
  
Cho nodded. "Ok." She was too tired to argue with Landon- she knew well enough from Quidditch how Landon always won in arguments.  
  
After she was done with lunch, Cho left the Great Hall early for Divination with Tabitha, and Faye Marths and Arie Lynch, both from Hufflepuff, who all had Divination with Cho. As the girls walked through the corridors to Professor Trelawney's classroom, Cho saw Harry heading down a different case of stairs above her. Ron Weasley was right in front of him, jabbering on with his twin brothers. Cho caught Harry's eye and they looked at each other. Suddenly, Cho's staircase began to shift, as the Hogwarts staircases usually did. Harry gave her one more look and walked out of sight.  
  
Just seeing him made Cho feel awkward. If only last night didn't happen.  
  
Divination actually wasn't as bad as Cho dreaded. This was the first day the class learned the basics of scrying, which took plenty of concentration but was easy to fake. Professor Trelawney was so pleased with the class's effort that she didn't even assign them any homework.  
  
"Miss Chang, would you stay behind one moment please?"  
  
Tabitha, Faye, and Arie gave Cho a pitiable look as they climbed down the silver ladder back to the corridors. Whenever Professor Trelaney wanted to talk to Cho privately, that was never good. She always wanted to talk about what she saw in Cho's future.  
  
Cho sat back down on one of the squashy armchairs around the fireplace.  
  
"Miss Chang, I see your aura has become terribly weak. It does not expand out at long lengths as it used to. Your overall aura is still the bright golden color describing your personality, but there is now a smoky grey mist surrounding it, which gives out that you are troubled and despondent."  
  
Obviously. You didn't need to be able to read auras to know that.  
  
"Would you like to take a look into the crystal ball, Miss Chang? Tell me what you see?" Professor Trelawney, looking quite excited, quickly grabbed her large transparent crystal ball from the wooden bookshelf by her desk.  
  
Cho stood up. "Errr, no thanks Professor. I should be going back to my tower now- plenty of homework to do." The fact of the matter was that neither McGonagall nor Flitwick gave her homework at all today. Cho knew exactly what Professor Trelawney was trying to do- get her to talk about Cedric's death.  
  
"Oh, come now, Miss Chang! How about some tea leaves?" Professor Trelawney waved her wand towards the pink kettle on her stove and it immediately sang with steam.  
  
"I really have to go Professor. Maybe some other time." Cho said politely, leaning over to open the round trapdoor.  
  
"Tarot cards! I know you enjoy that! Or alectromancy! I'll just conjure up one of Hagrid's roosters." Cho heard Professor Trelawney go on as she carefully, but very hastily, climbed down the silver rungs, closing the trapdoor above her.  
  
"Mental," Cho mumbled to noone in particular as she walked swiftly through the corridors to the Ravenclaw Tower. She turned the corner and saw a statue of The Knight. "Omniphilorus," she said to the statue. The Knight glided aside, revealing a wide hole as Cho walked inside.  
  
Cho walked straight up to her dormitory, ignoring Adelyn and Kiersten's glances in the Common Room. She hadn't had a good look in Cedric's book yet, even last night when she saw the picture.  
  
Cho walked briskly up the stone stairway into the room, opening up her trunk. The golden yellow book was still lying there on Cho's navy blue Quidditch robes. She sat down on her bed with the journal, pulling out her wand out of her robes. "Lokiarranduportia," she spoke, her wand to the door. There was a clicking sound as the door locked itself.  
  
She opened the book and gazed at the first page. 'September 2.'  
  
'When Muggles fall in love the moment they see each other, they call it "love at first sight". I like the way the Muggles think sometimes. Easy, straight to the point without much thought. "Love at first sight." I knew I was in love at first sight when I first saw her at Platform 93/4. She was what I imagined an angel to be, the way she smiled and the way she carried herself; the way she laughed and the way she spoke. Even her name rolls off my tongue beautifully- Cho Chang.'  
  
Cho blushed. She never knew Cedric was so poetic.  
  
'I didn't officially meet her until after the Feast. I reckon she was searching for her friends out in the corridors (that wasn't exactly right. Cho remembered she was trying to find the nearest lavatory) but she looked quite lost. I took the opportunity to walk up to her and ask her if she needed anything. And then I made the mistake of looking into her deep chocolate eyes. Love at first sight? More like love at all sights.'  
  
The next paragraphs went on to describing Cedric's first day of his third year at Hogwarts. Cho read each and every word, over and over again. She smiled. Cedric WAS the incredibly wonderful guy everyone thought him to be. He didn't have anything bad to say about anyone or anything in his journal. He was so optimistic.  
  
Cho suddenly straightened up. She just remembered the Quidditch meeting that was supposed to go on before supper.  
  
"Templis," she said as bright digital green numbers appeared from her wand reading "4:48".  
  
"Oh no." Cho jumped out of her bed and put the journal back safely in her trunk. Pulling out her wand, she said "Unlocartia", pointing to the door. It clicked open and Cho ran down the stairs.  
  
"See you at supper- Quidditch meeting!" Cho managed to say as she ran by Adelyn, who was reading her Muggle Studies book (Extreme Living: Muggles without Magic) on one of the couches in the Common Room. Kiersten was nowhere to be found.  
  
Cho didn't stop sprinting until she got down to the Quidditch fields. She ran beneath the stands, throwing open the doors of the locker room.  
  
"Hi--- everyone," Cho said, out of breath. Everyone smiled at her, greeting her back as Cho took a seat next to one of the Chasers from the year before, Michael Blake.  
  
Landon looked at her from the front of the room. "All right there Cho? Did you run all the way from the tower?"  
  
Cho grinned. "Yeah- sorry about that. At least I've had some pre-season training. Am I late?"  
  
Landon shook his head. "No- I was just telling the new players about tryouts."  
  
As Landon started talking about Quidditch trials that were to take place the following week, Cho started to look around the room. There were only four people left from their most recent Quidditch team the tear before, including Landon, Michael, Cho, and the other team Chaser, Julian Keats. There were six other people in the room of whom Cho all knew. Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle, both fifth years, were leaning against the wall. Sara Fawcett was the only girl in the room other than Cho. She was looking at Landon while twirling her delicate blonde curls anxiously. Fourth year Nicholas Hartwhig sat across from Cho's row, nervously fidgeting with his robes next to Drewan Lisle, a short third year with brown hair and a concentrated look on his face as Landon talked on. Tall, lanky Hugh Richett sat next to Drewan, obviously the youngest out of the groups with his extremely young second year face.  
  
"So everyone is to be here on Saturday morning before breakfast. Alright, that's it for new players. Will the returnees please stay behind?"  
  
Landon waited until all the new players left the locker room before speaking to the remaining members of his old team.  
  
"This year, competition is as brutal as ever. Gryffindor has six returning players and I've just found out that they're letting Ron Weasley in as Keeper in the place of Wood's old position. Five of their players are all seventh years- the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet. And there's always Harry Potter, who was given the position of the Gryffindor Captain."  
  
Cho stirred when Landon mentioned Harry's name. Harry, Seeker and Captain of Gryffindor? Good for him- he deserved it.  
  
Landon went on. "Gryffindor wants the Cup again more than ever. Slytherin hasn't got that stupid git Flint anymore, since he already graduated. They're all brainless gits, so I don't reckon they haven't got a clue of what to do first." Cho thought back to Thomas Friskin and his words in Tranfiguration. "Ready to get slaughtered in Quidditch?"  
  
"Hufflepuff- well, we all know about Hufflepuff." Everyone glanced at Cho.  
  
"It's really ok, Landon- go ahead, speak your mind about Hufflepuff. They've never been good, except for when Ced was in their team. We all know that. We should beat them," Cho offered.  
  
Landon smiled weakly. "Thank you Cho. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Just remember to be here on Saturday morning. I want you all to help me during the trials."  
  
Julian raised his hand jokingly. "Oh Captain Matts sir? May I ask a question?"  
  
Landon rolled his eyes.  
  
"Do you think we may win the cup this year?"  
  
Landon looked up at the ceiling, pondering at this question for a moment. "Hufflepuff- no problem as Cho said. We SHOULD beat Slytherin as well, for the first time in years. Never know about them though- always playing dirty with awful tricks up their sleeves. Gryffindor will, of course, be the hardest to beat, but not if we practice hard. Practice, practice, practice. As Muggles say, "Practice makes perfect.""  
  
Michael and Julian both groaned. "You're not going to turn into another obsessive Wood, are you? Wake us up early in the morning, play in rain, hail, and snow?"  
  
Landon shrugged. "I should take a leaf out of Wood's book. They DID win, didn't they?"  
  
They all groaned again.  
  
"Just messing with you! Just messing!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
***Chapter 4: Part II Short Synopsis: So what's a girl to do with Quidditch?*** 


	5. Learning to Fly Again Chapter 4: Part II

Disclaimer: yes, I'm a genius, but I'm not THAT brilliant! The plot and some characters are mine- the rest is JKR's. I'm really tired of saying that *duh*  
  
Author's Note: Here's Part II! And it's all about Quidditch! Nothing else to say. you Quidditch lovers will enjoy this chapter- all this stuff is from "Quidditch Through the Ages"-go out and buy it if you're a real Quidditch fan (like me). I've warned you- THIS CHAPTER IS ALL ABOUT QUIDDITCH!  
  
Rating: PG-13 (definitely not in this chapter though)  
  
Thanks to: ummmm, well, nobody in particular, actually. Jessie told me to thank my Seanus (Sean Biggerstaff= Oliver Wood) for being so cute. well, duh, even Sean himself knows how hot he is! Wonder if he knows what an inspiration he is to my work! And to my dreams *wink*  
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 4: Part II- Learning to Fly Again (continued)  
  
The Saturday of the Ravenclaw team Quidditch trials came by faster than Cho had thought. She was too pre-occupied with her classes to think about Quidditch and it wasn't until Friday night while studying in the Common Room when Michael Blake asked to borrow Cho's broomstick polish that she remembered.  
  
"Playing Quidditch sounds fun, but no way would I ever get up this early to play," Kiersten mumbled sleepily to Cho as Cho put on her Quidditch practice robes. It was still quite early in the morning but Landon had insisted that they got up a little after dawn to get an early start. It looked more and more like he was turning into another Oliver Wood.  
  
"Heaven forbid that you'd even get on a broomstick again, Kiersten. Just watching you fly is dangerous enough," Cho heard Adelyn from underneath her bed covers.  
  
Cho snickered, joined in by the laughs of Jessica and Tabitha, who appeared to be awake as well. During Madam Hooch's flying lessons that were given to all first year classes, Kiersten had a nasty accident. Never having been on a broomstick before, Kiersten's first time was chaotic. Long story short, by the end of the day, Kiersten's left ankle was left twisted and her right shoulder was dislocated and she broke her nose. Needless to say, Kiersten never left the ground on a broomstick again.  
  
"Awww, shut it. Don't remind me." Kiersten put her pillow on top of her head.  
  
Cho opened her trunk once again and took out her faithful companion, her Comet Two-Sixty broomstick. The Comet series was quite out of date but Cho had always had this broomstick since her father brought it for her when she was ten. Yes, it was cheap, losing it's speed, and out of date, but Cho loved it despite all its flaws. She didn't know what she'd do with it if she quit from Quidditch. Maybe it WAS time for her and her broomstick to retire from Quidditch.  
  
"Have fun Cho. Make sure Landon lets you go for breakfast," Adelyn said as Cho opened the dormitory door.  
  
As Cho closed the door behind her, she heard footsteps coming down the stone stairs behind her. It was two of the new players who were trying out, Sara Fawcett and Drewan Lisle. Drewan wore a black sweater with a silver bat in the middle, "Bellycastle Bats Quidditch" written around the bat, indicating that he was a Bellycastle fan. Sara simply on had a navy blue Ravenclaw turtleneck with a silver S knitted on it. Both had their broomsticks in hand.  
  
"Hi Cho! Are all the returnees going to watch us play? Gosh I hope I do well!" Sara said nervously while they walked through the Common Room.  
  
Cho smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine Sara. What positions are you two going for?"  
  
Drewan and Sara looked at each other. "Chaser," they said together.  
  
Cho nodded. "Too bad we can't take all of you. There's always next year of course, since Landon and Julian are both seventh years," she added, stepping out of the Common Room onto the corridors.  
  
When the three of them got to the Quidditch field, everyone except Landon was down there. Julian and Michael were sitting back to back on the grass, seemingly fast asleep. The two new fifth years were sprawled onto the grass, observing the shapes the clouds made and the young second year Hugh Rickett was reading "Quidditch Through the Ages", his hair sticking out every which way. Everyone seemed to be yawning in thirty second intervals.  
  
They heard heavy footsteps on the grass and looked back to see Landon hurrying to them, which looked hard as he was carrying a very large wooden box, a megaphone, and his broomstick. He set everything down and gave them all a very wide smile, looking quite alert and ready to go. "Sorry I'm late- up, up now! We only have a few hours before breakfast and Professor Flitwick insisted that we end before then, since Gryffindor reserved the field next."  
  
"You're late, Matts," Michael said suddenly as he woke up and stretched. Julian fell to the ground behind him.  
  
"Owww, Blake you git!"  
  
Landon cleared his throat. "Alright now, everyone on their brooms, five laps around the field."  
  
Cho leap on her Comet Two-Sixty and pushed off the ground. It felt nice to be up in the sky again. After her last lap, Cho landed back on the ground and watched Landon reveal the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the tiny Golden Snitch from the wooden box for the new players. "There are only three places left on the team, a position of a Chaser and two Beaters. Everyone will have a chance to try out the position that you want as well as my position, Keeper. Cho's the Seeker and she's planning to be around for awhile," with this Landon gave a meaningful look towards Cho, "so even if the position of the Seeker isn't open, we might let someone play reserve Seeker if I see you play well. I'll release the balls and the four of us will observe you from the highest stand."  
  
With that, Landon released the Quaffle first. Landon, megaphone in hand, and Julian then took both sides of the wooden box, which now contained only the two Bludgers and the Golden Snitch, up the stairs to the highest stands, followed by Cho and Michael. They settled comfortably on the seats and observed the players from binoculars. "I want you all to watch Lisle- I've seen him play before. Small, quick, plenty of strength. Brilliant at handling the Quaffle. Watch!" They obeyingly all watched as Drewan Lisle streaked from across the field. They then saw something quite amazing, seen not too often in England. With two opposing Chasers in front of him, he leaned forward to make his broomstick go faster and expertly zigzagged left and right, up and down, confusing his two opponents to where he was going. As he reached the goal posts, guarded by Stephen Cornfoot, Drewan swayed Stephen left and then dived below and away from Stephen, putting the Quaffle through the goal.  
  
"Right, well done Lisle!" Landon shouted. Drewan grinned down at then, waving in acknowledgement.  
  
"Wasn't that the Woollongong Shimmy?" Cho questioned in a low voice, her eyes wide.  
  
Landon smiled and nodded. "Yes, the famous Woollongong Shimmy. Do you know how difficult that move is, zigzagging up and down, right and left at an extremely fast rate?"  
  
"He only scored a goal," Michael said, looking quite displeased at them. "You never praise me like that, Matts."  
  
"He scored in less than 20 seconds into the play, Michael, with a Woollongong Shimmy! You're not jealous, are you?" Cho asked slyly, smiling.  
  
"Merlin's beard, that was bloody brilliant. The Woollongong Shimmy!" Julian whispered. "Every time I try to get that fast, I tend to fall off my broomstick."  
  
Michael scowled. "I'M still not convinced yet- need to see more to make a decision."  
  
Landon nodded. "Right you are, Blake. Two other contenders for being a Chaser are Sara Fawcett and Nicholas Hartwhig. Oh, there's Sara now." From Stephen Cornfoot's side of the goal, Sara Fawcett had the Quaffle tucked in her arm. Out of nowhere, Nicholas punched the Quaffle out from her arm and zoomed back to Stephen's side of the goal posts. Drewan dived down from above Nicholas and stole the Quaffle away, putting the ball through the goal post which was guarded by Kevin Entwhistle.  
  
Landon and Cho started clapping as Julian and Michael's mouths hung open. Landon and Cho laughed together. "Afraid you two are gonna lose your positions? You two never scored two goals in two minutes during practice."  
  
"Bloody brilliant," Julian repeated quietly as Michael just shook his head.  
  
"Alright, enough for the Chasers now!" Landon yelled into his megaphone. "I want the Chasers to just fly around the pitch in which ever way while the Beaters get out their bats. I'm going to release the Bludgers. Never mind if it's going to hit you- the Beaters job is to protect you! If it does hit you, well, Blake, Keats, and I have our wands so we'll slow down the process and Cho here will summon a mattress as she's good at all that."  
  
"Ummm, Landon, I don't have my wand," Cho said confusingly.  
  
"And what's this spell that slows you down?" Michael questioned, looking as confused as Cho. "Doesn't matter anyways, since I don't have my wand either."  
  
"Shhh," Landon hissed at them. "Davies said that the day we tried out and it made all of us feel better, didn't it?"  
  
Landon released the two black Bludgers from the box and they all watched as the Bludgers zoomed around, much like out of control cannon balls. "Now the Beaters then. Cornfoot, Entwhistle, and Rickett," Landon said, pointing to each of them. They were all flying around the pitch, knocking Bludgers around with their short bats. "I've never seen any of them play but they all have the height and built and they hit pretty well. Whoever I choose will do fine it seems."  
  
The other three stared at Landon. "YOU choose?" Michael blurted out.  
  
"I mean the ones that we choose."  
  
"You know Matts, Cho and I are learning about Communism and Dictatorship in Muggle Studies. Doesn't this sound a tad bit like that, Cho?" Julian said, grinning.  
  
Landon ignored them.  
  
After another hour of direct orders from Landon, trials were over and positions were to be posted Monday during lunch as instructed for all the other teams as well except for Gryffindor, which already had a whole team due to the fact that Ron Weasley immediately was put in as Keeper during the summer. They had all decided that Drewan Lisle was the best Chaser at Hogwarts they've seen in years (even Michael admitted it in the end). They also agreed that the best friends from the fifth year, Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle, were more experienced and knew the basics of being a Beater. Besides, being a Beater required communication with your fellow Beater, and never have there been two Beaters on the same team that couldn't read each others mind. Which probably explained why the Gryffindor Beaters, the Weasley twins, played so well.  
  
Cho stayed back on the Quidditch field alone, insisting everyone to go on to breakfast without, her excuse being that she hadn't flown for a long while and wanted to try a bit. She kicked off the ground and once again felt the air go through her hair. She had forgotten how great flying was. When she was up on her broomstick, nothing else seemed to matter. Cho thought back to the idea of her quitting the team and realized how absurd it was. Yes, flying and Quidditch did remind her of Cedric, but in a wonderful way. She couldn't let this feeling get away from her. No, she couldn't quit the team- Cedric would be furious at her.  
  
Cho flew back down to the ground, touching down. She then laid down on the soft grass, her brown eyes looking up at the blue sky.  
  
"Did you find your answer in the sky?"  
  
Cho, hand shielding her eyes from the sun, looked to her right to Landon approaching her, the wooden box at hand. She smiled. "Yes."  
  
"And you now realize how ridiculous it was to even suggest quitting the team?"  
  
Cho's smile grew wider. "Yes, Landon. You were right. I was born to play and that's the end of it."  
  
Landon breathed a sigh of relief, dropping the box down on the ground, and sat down next to Cho. "Blimey Cho, you had me worried there that I had to train one of those players to be Seeker. They're all pretty good, but they aren't you."  
  
Cho sat upright and looked at Landon. "Landon, work us hard. Keep me busy. I think too much."  
  
Landon laughed. "Oh, now you want me to be a Wood?" he asked teasingly.  
  
Cho shook her head. "No, be a Cedric. He was a great captain, because he worked his team hard but was understanding-"  
  
"-and good, kind, and brave," Landon interjected, remembering Dumbledore's speech from last year.  
  
Cho turned away and wiped her eyes with the end of her robes. "Yeah, all that." She sighed.  
  
Landon stood up, pulling Cho up with him. "C'mon, my famous Seeker, you must be hungry. Let's go to breakfast." 


	6. Finding Out

Disclaimer: plot is mine, idea is mine, words are mostly mine. but remember, HP is JKR's!   
  
Author's Note: I know I haven't been updating for, ummmm, two months? Ok, more than two months! But I've been having a terrible writer's block and this year was my senior year, so between college admissions, graduation, Powderpuff football, and finals, I had no time on my hands! But here it is now- the fifth chapter! *cheers* And I'm working on the sixth chapter, which is getting better and funnier by the minute! Ok, go ahead- oh and congratulate me- I've decided to go to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst to pre-med! *sigh* Two more months and I'll be there instead of California!  
  
This chapter is, well, quite different- it's fluffy- you've been warned! But this chapter has kept me up at night for the past two months cos I couldn't decide how to portray Cho and Harry. But it's just a transition to the better stuff!  
  
Rating: PG-13   
  
Thanks to: NengSki, Phooka, Shirayuka, and Evita CA Cardozayputzier for reviewing and reading, especially. Whoa, I got a lot of good feedback!!! Thanks soooooo much you guys!! I really appreciate all your reviews! And a special thanks to Jessie, of course, for always supporting my stories!! I love ya! *kisses* And thanks to UMass for accepting me, as stupid as I am.. lol!   
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 5: Finding Out  
  
Landon proved he could keep a promise. The Ravenclaw team worked hard, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, and Saturday mornings. Besides Quidditch, the workload the professor provided them were stunningly large in amount, especially since Cho got seven OWLs last year, landing her in many rigorous classes. Cho found it easy to push away her problems and just concentrate on Quidditch and homework.  
  
Cho had now become accustomed to opening Cedric's journal each night and reading a different entry. The journal had become magically expanded inside so that the book looked much smaller than what it really was. It seemed as if every thought Cedric had was reflected in this journal, including many of Cho. Reading Cedric's journal somehow made Cho miss him less, because it seemed like he was always there with her.  
  
Cho didn't like studying in the Ravenclaw Common Room, since all Ravenclaws crowded it at night, taking all the good tables and studying loudly. So she would spend her nights at the library, buried by all her books and parchment. It was nice to get away from the social aspect of life as well.  
  
"Oh, sorry," Cho mumbled as she bumped into someone while carrying her large pile of books. She looked around her stack of books, right into a pair of green eyes behind round glasses.  
  
"Oops, sorry," Harry muttered, taking a book from a shelf behind her. He hesitated. "Ugh, here, let me help you with those books."  
  
Always the gentleman, Harry took the stack of books from Cho and had her lead him to her table. "Ugh, well, I'll be going," Harry said quietly, stepping away.  
  
"Wait, Harry." Cho extended her hand to stop Harry. "Umm, thanks for helping me with my books."  
  
"Don't mention it."  
  
Silence followed.  
  
"I.. errr.. just wanted to make sure that we were still friends," Cho finally said.   
  
Harry sat down next to Cho, looking right in her eyes. "WERE we ever friends, Cho?"  
  
"Of course we are," Cho said hastily, looking at Harry. "I've always thought of us as friends."   
  
He laughed. "Of course- I'm talking to the ever so popular Cho Chang, who is friends with everyone. I forgot."   
  
Cho frowned. Why was Harry being such an arse? She gave him a hurt look. "Sorry?"   
  
Harry tossed back his head, glancing over his shoulder to look at other people in the library. It was late and they could only see a few people on the other side of the library left. "Forget it. Look, I've got some issues I've gotta deal with and you being, well, you, isn't making it any better."   
  
Now Harry was going too far. Cho froze up and gave Harry another hurt look. "Well, excuse me for being me! I'll just go off and be Cho somewhere else, if that's alright with you!" She stood up fast, knocking over her chair in her rush and gathered her books hurriedly.   
  
Harry sighed next to her. He grabbed her arm. "Wait, Cho." He stood up and took her books and parchment from her, propping up her chair so she could sit back down.   
  
"Please?" Harry asked, his eyes pleading her to sit down. He sighed again as Cho still was standing. "Please, I'm sorry. I. I didn't mean that. Please, just sit down. We'll talk."   
  
Cho stared at him and sat down. If Harry threw one more insult at her.   
  
Harry leaned up over the table, covering his face with his hands. Cho chose not to say anything yet as she looked at Harry.   
  
After a long silence, he spoke.   
  
"Well, I suppose you want to hear about Cedric. About what exactly happened, how he died, if he mentioned you."   
  
Again, that was the last thing she though Harry would say. "All I needed to know was who killed him and we all know that was Voldemort," she whispered quietly.   
  
Harry did a double take. "Are-are you sure?"   
  
Cho nodded. "I know it must be hard thinking of watching Ced." she swallowed hard. "It's better sometimes to now know. I'm not sure I could handle it." She smiled weakly.   
  
"He had the Avada Kedavra curse on him. It was quick- he died bravely," Harry muttered quickly and quietly, as if the faster he spoke, the less it would hurt Cho.   
  
Cho took this all in slowly. The Avada Kedavra curse? That meant he died immediately. She bit her lower lip, trying not to cry.   
  
"Sometimes it is better to know, isn't it?" she heard Harry say gently. Cho didn't dare speak- she felt as if she was going to cry any moment.   
  
Her attempts failed. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she looked down at her parchment as two fat lumps of tears splattered on it. She heard Harry hesitate next to her and he patted her back awkwardly.   
  
"Oh, ugh, Cho- ple-please don't cry," he stuttered, obviously not knowing what to do when a girl cried.   
  
She threw her arms around him and started sobbing on his shoulder. Harry, caught off guard, just sat there, his arms open and his body stiff. "Errrr.."   
  
After awhile, Harry soften. His arms enclosed around Cho soothingly. "It's gonna be ok," he said softly.   
  
Cho sniffed and pulled away from him, wiping the tears from her eyes harshly. "I'm sorry Harry- I've just never actually thought of how he died." She sighed shakingly. "It's just another proof that he's really gone." She looked at his shoulder and sniffed again. "Look- I made your robes all wet," she muttered, pointing out the wet patch on his right shoulder.   
  
Harry laughed, his left hand touching it. "Quite alright. Look, I want you to go back to your dormitory and just sleep- don't think too much of anything. Believe me, I know. Just don't think too much." He pulled out a handkerchief and reached over, swiping underneath Cho's eyes.   
  
Cho smiled. Harry was so kind and understanding- she didn't even remember how mad she was at him earlier. All she could think about was how caring he was- she just wanted to show him that she cared too, and what a great friend he was to her.   
  
Suddenly, Cho found herself leaning over, locked in another kiss with Harry. But this time- this time was different. Perhaps because it was Cho who made the first move- perhaps it was because she felt it was the right things to do at the moment- but as soon as her lips touched Harry's, kissing him was the only thing on her mind.   
  
After what seemed to be like a really long time, they both pulled back and met each other's gazes.   
  
"I'm not sure if what we just did is appropriate library behavior," Harry finally said.   
  
Cho laughed and looked around. "Funny though, since this is the ideal place." It was true. The library was now quiet and getting darker, aided only by the dimming sunrays shining through the window. Noone was around anymore, and they couldn't even see Madam Pince.   
  
Harry, too, looked around, although very cautiously. "We should leave," Harry said abruptly. Cho looked at her watch. "Oh! I forgot fifth years have to be back by nine."   
  
Harry shrugged. "I have half an hour- I'll go see you off, noone's supposed to be alone at night." He stood up and helped her gather her things.   
  
She glanced at Harry. "Who are you then, walking around corridors alone after hours?" she asked teasingly.   
  
"Why, I'm Harry Potter of course- I did escape Voldemort three times, you know?"   
  
Cho just grinned as they walked out of the library. She thought about her sudden change of perspective with Harry. "So, ummm, what does this mean?" she questioned as their loud footsteps littered the silent corridors.   
  
"I-I don't know. What do you think?" Harry looked away from Cho's gaze quickly.   
  
"Well," Cho went slowly, wanting to think and talk at the same time, "you're a really great friend-"   
  
"Oh."   
  
"-and that's all I've ever thought of you-"   
  
"Oh."   
  
"-until just a few minutes ago actually," Cho continued firmly, her mind boggling for the right words. She looked to see if Harry was going to interrupt again but he fell silent next to her.   
  
They traveled down the staircase as Cho went on. "I really care about you, in more than just the friendship way. But it seems too early for me- much too early to, well, start a new relationship after what happened." She gulped again at the thought.   
  
Harry nodded, urging Cho to go on as they reached the third-floor corridor.   
  
"But I really do like you and I don't know if you feel the same, so I may just be making a fool of myself by just saying that," Cho went on, blushing harder at each work.   
  
Harry's laugh echoed in the hallways. "Cho, are you saying that you didn't know that I've had a crush on you for two years now?"   
  
Cho stopped right in front of the statue of the Knight and gazed at Harry. "Wh-hat?"   
  
He laughed again. "And Ravenclaws are supposed to be clever."   
  
Cho breathed out slowly, still maintaining her red glow. "So-"   
  
"I get what you're saying. I like you, you like me, but a public relationship would be too soon- especially since I apparently killed Cedric," he added bitterly, scowling at the though. "So shall we keep this a secret- just between us for awhile, until, well, ugh-"   
  
Cho nodded firmly. "Until we're ready."   
  
Harry grinned and leaned closer to Cho. "Ok," he confirmed. Cho kissed him softly before he turned and walked down the hallway. She watched him turn to corner and sighed happily, saying the new password to the Knight Statue.   
  
As terrible as she felt on a similar night almost a month ago, it was just that better.  
  
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***Chapter 5: Short Synopsis: Harry and Cho try to keep their relationship secret- especially from those who would be the first to judge.*** 


	7. Behind Closed Doors

Disclaimer: ok , you know the drill. Everything on BUT the main HP plot in the books are mine, aight?!   
  
Author's Note: See how fast I'm putting this chapter up?! It's because of all those reviews- 5 in three days?! Boy, do I feel special! Actually, I like this chapter a lot cos it's funnier. And it shows Harry and Cho in the way that I saw them when I found out that Harry liked her in PoA. Plus it's got some more of Adelyn and Kiersten, Cho's best friends, who are really quite interesting. Their characteristics sort of revolve around my group of friends (but Kiersten would be most like me!). The ideas for this chapter just flew from my brain to the paper so quickly and I wish it was like that all the time! I tried very very hard not to contain any HP5: Order of the Phoenix things in my story. It wasn't that hard, because Cho is portrayed so terribly in OotP and I love her character- I think she's still really great. I just want people to see another side of her. And I'm halfway through my next chapter, the 8th one, which is really great news. Hopefully my writer's block is gone forever! Here's a thought I wanted to run past my readers. Since Cho and Harry's relationship is getting "intense", I have some further ideas about the story that shows their passion for each other. The only problem is that I'd have to change my rating to R, because, well, it's getting more and more intense each and every time they kiss. So tell me what you think about that idea. The R-rating would only last for one chapter though. Maybe- *wink* Well, I hope you like this chapter as much as I do, since it's my favorite one so far, and please press the review button! I'd really really appreciate all your input! Thanks for reading!  
  
Rating: PG-13   
  
Thanks to: my reviewers- Bon (there are many, many secrets in Hogwarts *wink*), shinobu (thanks for the support! I'll try and update as often as I can!), mandy (I'm so glad you loved it- keep on reading, you won't be disappointed!), and Prayer! (so whatdaya think of romantic-writer Mindy? LOL- sure you could handle HP? I'm soooooo glad you've converted ;)). And always, always to my #1 fan, Jessie, who's always the first to read and review my stories! You're the inspiration for the whole R-rated idea, Messy- be proud, lol! And all my girls (ashy, ally, lisa, chris, amy, and everyone else- you know who you are!) at Harry's Forum- I LOVE YOU! You guys make HP fans da bomb!   
  
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The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 6: Behind Closed Doors  
  
Being in a relationship with Harry Potter was much more different than being in a relationship with Cedric. Cho found that out early. The problem was that she wasn't sure if it was better or worse. When with Cedric, he and Cho could hold hands openly in the corridors, much to the pleasure of gossip in Hogwarts. But with Harry, they barely talked in front of other people, let alone hold hands. Their relationship was a very well-kept secret, one that even Adelyn and Kiersten didn't even know about. Cho didn't even think Harry told his best friend, Ron Weasley.  
  
Instead of metting enclosed in the eyes of their peers, Harry and Cho met secretly, sometimes by the lake, near the Quidditch pitch, or later at night, in the corridors. They mostly met in the library though, hidden by the massive bookcases in their own corner.  
  
The secret relationship was a new thrill to Cho- her adrenaline pumped when one of their friends rounded a corner, almost catching Harry and Cho holding hands. Her heart seemed to just stop beating when Adelyn appeared at the end of the bookshelf she and Harry were kissing by. Luckily, she just walked by, leaving the couple unnoticed.  
  
But Harry and Cho weren't *that* good at keeping their relationship behind closed doors. In fact, one day as Harry leaned over to kiss Cho good night a little after nine, a door suddenly opened right in front of them. There stood Professor Dumbledore, looking right down at Harry and Cho. He smiled and said in an amusing tone "Shouldn't you be in bed, Mr. Potter?", and just before he walked away, Cho could swear he gave them a wink.  
  
Being Harry Potter's secret girlfriend had their low points of course. Cho flushed an amazing floor of red each time she heard someone saying awful accusations about Harry, leaving her quite angry at the gossiper for awhile, leaving them wondering what they had done wrong. She soon tuned herself out from any conversations having to do with Harry, especially if Thomas Friskin had anything to say in the matter. But Cho really realized how unhealthy it was to have a secret relationship three weeks after, when she received her first "P" in charms class and "D" in Potions. Cho just stared at the papers for awhile- she was excellent in Charms class- it was her favorite subject and never had she gotten anything less than "Acceptable" before. And a D in Potions! D stood for Dreadful, and that was the only thing standing between her and a "T"- for Troll, the lowest grade.  
  
Cho told Harry her problem that evening in the library, hoping that he could help her.  
  
"A D?" he repeated, shrugging. "I always get a D in Potions- you're making a big deal out of nothing Cho."  
  
Needless to say, it became a big deal for Harry as well when Cho then told him, huffing, that they were spending too much time together and her solution was that she couldn't meet him often anymore. After that, their time in the library was spent studying- most of it, at least.  
  
As Cho appeared in the Ravenclaw Common Room at nine on the button, for the third time in a row, Adelyn and Kiersten were talking animatedly by the fireplace. Cho saw them and seated herself on her favorite armchair.  
  
"Cho, you're spending too much time in the library," Adelyn started, peering at Cho's stack of books that she had set on the table.  
  
"Don't tell me you're still worrying about that P and D you got ages ago-" Kiersten said.  
  
"Two weeks ago," Cho prompted.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Kiersten waved her hand at Cho's statement carelessly. "Anyways, you've never done badly in anything- there's gotta be one slip-"  
  
Adelyn cleared her throat.  
  
Kiersten rolled her eyes. "The exception being Miss Perfect Prefect over here. Listen, I've gotta P's and D's- much more than once too. Especially in Potions. So no worries- carpe diem!"  
  
"Hakuna Matata," Cho corrected her.  
  
Kiersten waved her hand carelessly again. "Sure, whatever."  
  
Adelyn caught Cho's eye and they tried not to laugh.  
  
"Even though Kiersten made no sense at all-"  
  
Kiersten gave Adelyn a dirty look.  
  
"- I must say I do agree with her on the studying thing. You should relax and have some fun," Adelyn said.  
  
"Umm, Lyn, it looks like Cho *isn't* stressing out. I mean, her eyes aren't all black and blue, she doesn't have any stress pimples, she's not jumping out of windows anytime soon- actually, she seems happy!" Kiersten cocked her head and squinted her eyes like she was inspecting Cho. Her hazel- colored eyes suddenly got big. "Cho, WHO are you secretly making out with?!"  
  
Adelyn and Cho both stared at Kiersten, confused. "Errrr, make out?" Cho asked nervously. She could never understand Kiersten's American slang.  
  
"You know, ugh. what do you call it.. snogging! Who are you snogging, Cho?!" Kiersten repeated, excitedly.  
  
It was Adelyn's turn to roll her eyes. "Really Kiersten, you gossip. I really don't think Cho's ready for a relationship just yet. She's got plenty of responsibility under her belt already."  
  
As Adelyn went on, Cho felt herself go red, hoping her friends wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, Kiersten caught Cho's eye and her eyes grew wider in delight, but Kiersten didn't say anything.  
  
"- and sometimes your romantic antics get much out of hand, Kiersten. You really have to be careful of what you say sometimes. If you weren't-" Adelyn was now scolding Kiersten.  
  
Cho stood up and faked a yawn. Adelyn stopped. "I'm really tired, you guys. I'm going to bed."  
  
Kiersten scurried up, grinning. "Me too."  
  
Adelyn crossed her arms, frowning. "Well, I wanted to finish a few more chapters for Arithmancy and then I'll be up." Cho noticed a book entitled "Numbers of Numberology" on Adelyn's lap that she didn't see.  
  
Cho nodded, gathering up her books. Kiersten picked up a few from the table. "Here, I'll help you carry these books that you've been studying *so* hard with in the library," Kiersten said, annoyingly emphasizing every other word slowly.  
  
"So, Cho Chang is making out with someone- who?!" Kiersten asked immediately after they were out of Adelyn's earshot.  
  
Cho blushed again, muttering "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
Kiersten laughed richly. "Ok- SNOGGING!" She grinned.  
  
Cho's face grew hot. "Noone," she lied.  
  
Kiersten clucked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk Cho! Thou shalt not lie! Besides, you're a horrible liar, sorry to tell you. You turn red whenever you lie!"  
  
Cho remained silent as Kiersten went on as they headed up to their dormitory. "You like the smart, cute, athletic type- Quidditch, Quidditch," she muttered, her brows furrowed in though. "Can't be Fred nor George- ummm- ooh, that quiet blonde from Hufflepuff- what's his name? Nah, he's too pompous. We all know we'd croak over and die before dating someone from Slytherin. Draco Malfoy's the only cute one there anyway. Ah!!!!! Michaell! Oh, wait, he's seeing that Su-girl." Kiersten sudden stopped at the door of their dormitory. "I've got it!"  
  
Cho froze, looking at Kiersten.  
  
"Landon, it's Landon! Of course, why didn't I think of it before! You're going out with Landon, aren't you?!" Kiersten grinned broadly and looked into Cho's blank stare. "Of course- he's cute, athletic, a Ravenclaw, he's nice- I've always thought he liked you-"  
  
Cho shook her head sadly, opening the door. "It's not Landon."  
  
Kiersten bounded into the empty room behind Cho, much like an overexcited puppy. "Ha, but you admit it! You ARE seeing someone! C'mon Cho, share a little- spread the wealth!" She kept jumping up and down around the room.  
  
Cho sighed, putting her books and parchment back in her trunk. "Kiersten, DO stop! How old are you again?"  
  
"Nope, nope, nope! You've got a secret lover and I demand to know who it is!"  
  
"Kiersten, we're NOT lovers-"  
  
"Ok, a secret boyfriend! DO share, Cho! You have the interesting boyfriends."  
  
Cho sat on her bed, exhaustingly looking at bouncing Kiersten. "You've got a tongue for gossip Kiersten, I just can't tell you."  
  
Kiersten stopped excitedly. "Oh, I promise I won't, Cho! I'll- I'll pinky swear!" She held out her little finger as Cho stared at her. This was another new phrase for Cho.  
  
"What? Pink- what?"  
  
Kiersten stared jumping up and down again. "Solemnly swear! Oh Cho, please, I swear, I really do. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye! I could even help you! Besides, I won't stop jumping until you tell me!"  
  
Cho was getting very dizzy watching Kiersten. "Alright, alright!"  
  
Kiersten stopped. She fell on Cho's bed and held out her little finger again.  
  
"Errrr..?"  
  
Kiersten took Cho's hand and stuck her little finger out and linked it with her own.  
  
"There- now I can't tell anyone."  
  
Cho stared at Kiersten again.  
  
"Go on- who is it?"  
  
"What was, errr, that?" Cho motioned to her little finger, confused.  
  
"A pinky swear! Cho, you know if you really don't want me to tell anyone about you secret lovelife, I really won't. I value friendship over gossip, you know that. You're my best friend- I won't do anything to hurt you."  
  
Cho thought about this for a moment. It was true that Kiersten could keep a secret if she wanted to. In their second year, Cho decided to go out for Quidditch and she would use the pitch late each evening privately because she didn't want anyone to know. Kiersten found out and instead of babbling to everyone how Cho was trying out as Seeker, she helped cover for her those three weeks. Then last year, Cedric had asked Kiersten about Cho, making her promise not to tell anyone he liked Cho. Again, Kiersten didn't tell anyone and kept it to herself until after Cedric and Cho started going out.  
  
Cho looked up to see that Kiersten was looking at her. "It's ok if you don't trust me, Cho," Kiersten said sadly. "I- I understand if you don't want-"  
  
"It's Harry Potter."  
  
Cho thought that Kiersten was going to burst with delight but she just sat there, frowning. "Harry Potter?" she repeated.  
  
Cho nodded. "Yeah- for a little more than a month now. We- Kiersten, what's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic."  
  
Kiersten threw Cho a worried look. "I dunno, Cho. Harry Potter? He, well, he-"  
  
Cho looked sternly at Kiersten. "What?"  
  
"Well, people are saying he's making things up- about You-Know-Who returning, about him gaining power- they say he want more attention, him being The-Boy-Who-Lived and all." Kiersten now looked at Cho almost fearfully. "And he was there when Cedric died, Cho. He was the only witness to that. I- I really dunno- it's just-"  
  
"Are you trying to suggest that Harry killed Ced?" Cho said in a low, quiet voice.  
  
Kiersten was fidgeting next to Cho. "Well, ugh, maybe Cedric did something wrong and a spell backfired, I don't know. It- it's just a possi-"  
  
Cho closed her eyes. "Now you're just insulting the two boys that I have EVER cared about in my life, Kiersten." Cho said this softly. She never raised her voice when she was mad, she just went quiet. Kiersten knew this.  
  
Kiersten, almost in tears beside Cho, said shakingly, "Oh Cho, no! I'm- I'm just telling you what I heard! If- if you believe Ha-Harry then alright but- "  
  
"Do you believe what he says?" Cho questioned quietly.  
  
"Oh, ye-yes! Yes I do!" Kiersten replied loudly. "And Cho, I am happy for you! I'll cover for you- make sure Lyn doesn't find out. She'd throw a fit if she knew that you and Harry-"  
  
"Kiersten, I don't want you to go against your sources if you think that Harry-"  
  
Kiersten shook her blonde head firmly. "No, no- I believe him. I mean, Professor Dumbledore believes him, and you do too! We might never know exactly what happened that day but it's the faith that counts, right?"  
  
A set of footsteps going up the stairs, interrupted Kiersten's trail of profound thought and Cho thought of something. "Kiersten, what does Adelyn think?" she wondered as the set of footsteps faded away.  
  
Kiersten waved her hand again carelessly. "Who cares? As long as you believe what you do!" The blonde linked her arm between Cho's and her eyes sparkled. "So- tell me about Harry."  
  
***Chapter 7: Short Synopsis: Keeping a secret is easier said than done.*** 


	8. Stressed and Distracted

Disclaimer: HP is JK Rowling's, aka the Goddess. I just made up the plot and a few of the characters (ok, a lot of them!).  
  
Author's Note: Sooooo- I'm on to chapter seven already- how weird how my thoughts are just flying! Watch, I'm gonna jinx myself! This chapter is more into what Cho thinks and feels and just how she's under different pressures and all that stress. Pity her a bit ok? She's got a lot under her belt! Also shows, errrrr, the Cho/Harry relationship in a different light. Ooooh, and it features the Weasley twins, whom I love very very VERY much! Less than Ollie and Ced, but they're up there!  
  
This took me awhile to post but that's cos I don't have much time to type the story. I'm almost done with the 8th chapter… that should be along before I go off to Massachusetts at the end of next month.  
  
I just wanted to tell you all that I HAVE decided that I'm gonna up-rate it to be rated R. If you aren't an R-rated fan, just check back on the last PG-13 chapter I have before the R chapter and I'll tell you what chapter that's coming up on so you could skip reading that chapter! I dunno if it's gonna go beyond one chapter though- probably not.  
  
Oh, and right now, I'm on the verge of auditioning for the part of Cho Chang in the fourth Harry Potter movie. I'd really appreciate it if y'all came to the website (http://mindyascho.8m.com) and read my reasons for wanting to be Cho, and possibly sign the petition, which is linked on the site!  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Thanks to: always for all the reviews! ron_weasley, Bon, Ruth, I Love Cho (I do too!)- I really hope you all enjoy the rest of the chapters, since I've been working on this fanfic like a house-elf! Prayer- don't tell any of our friends I write HP fanfics, ok? I think they've all already died of shock cos I'm auditioning as Cho- I don't think they'd like to read about romantic Cho/Harry relationships. Everyone already thinks I've changed so much as it is! Jessie- my PR person! Siriusly, you are the coolest friend alive, thanks for promoting me and everything concerning the whole Cho auditioning thing. Everyone, I want you to know that it's cos of Jessie that I'm actually doing the auditions….  
  
Anyways, enjoy the chapter and just click on Submit Review and tell me what you think! *kisses*  
  
^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^   
  
The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 7: Stressed and Distracted  
  
"Cho! Honestly! Concentrate, will you?"  
  
Cho looked behind her as Landon flew around the goals, shouting at her to concentrate on looking for the Snitch. For the fourth time, the Snitch was hovering right around Cho and she didn't notice it. She sped off the towards the middle of the Quidditch pitch, high above everyone else, squinting to look for a golden glint.  
  
Ravenclaw's first match, the second match of the year, was against Hufflepuff next week. Gryffindor had already beaten Slytherin at the beginning of November, when Harry had spectacularly caught the Snitch quite early in the game to seal a domineering civtory. Cho could only congratulate him quickly as they passed by the corridors, but she made sure to congratulate him thoroughly the next day they met.  
  
"Cho, get your lazy arse to that Snitch! Landon's not letting us go until you've caught it!" she heard Michael shout as he zoomed by with the Quaffle, Drewan and Julian hot on his tail.  
  
Cho sighed, obeyingly searching the pitch for the Snitch. She couldn't seem to concentrate on Quidditch in the past weeks practices. Her sixth year mid-terms were coming up and she poured over books every night. Sneaking around with Harry took a lot of energy as well, more than she could afford. Quidditch practice was always draining like usual, putting Cho to sleep immediately each night before she had time to do anything else.  
  
Suddenly, she spotted it. The Snitch was flying around Stephen, who was cautiously looking for any stray Bludgers. Cho speeded to him as he looked up, confused to why Cho was flying towards him. She looped around Stephan's outstretched arm and bat, finally catching the Snitch in her right hand. Landon, looking relieved, flew to her, signaling everyone to join him. "Alright, that's enough for today. Get yourself a good breakfast and I'll see you at the locker rooms Monday before dinner."  
  
Cho landed on the pitch, the Snitch still beating helplessly in her hand. Landon followed her, landing down beside Cho. He took the Snitch from her as it's wings folded around itself, resting on his palm.  
  
"Is, errrm, is there something wrong, Cho? Something you want to tell me?" asked Landon quietly.  
  
Cho shook her head.  
  
"Are you sure? You've been doing well up until these past weeks, Cho. What's going on?"  
  
"Nothing- nothing. REALLY Landon, I've just had a lot of school work, and Quidditch is exhausting as it is," Cho replied, half-truthfully. She hoped her face wasn't getting red, as Kiersten had warned her.  
  
Landon had peered a look at Cho for a moment, surveying her face. "Well, if you're sure…." He said slowly, looking half-convinced. "If there's anything, Cho-"   
  
"I know, I know Landon, you're always here," Cho finished, grinning at him. "Thanks. Well, if you don't need anything else-"  
  
Landon waved his hand away, locking the Snitch back into the wooden crate. "No, no- go off to breakfast and EAT- you're getting thinner by the second. It's not healthy- I don't want my Seeker to get blown away before she could catch the Snitch," Landon complained as Julian came from behind to lift the other side of the crate.  
  
Cho grinned again and jogged up to the school grounds. She lost her smile soon enough as her mind boggled up with the thoughts of what she had to do for school. She didn't HAVE time to eat. A two-foot essay on ancient potions for Professor Snape, a font and a half for the transfiguration of human beings for Professor McGonagall, a star diagram labeling the positions of the stars for a month for Professor Sinistra in Astronomy, finish a page of questions for Professor Figg in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and find ten people's heart numbers for Professor Vector in Arithmancy, not to mention the amount of reading that was in store for her-  
  
"Hey, there you are," a familiar voice greeted her, walking away from Hagrid's hut on the school grounds.  
  
Cho looked sideways and found herself in Harry's arms. He kissed her. "Where've you been? I was wanting to surprise you by meeting you after practice, but that was half an hour ago."  
  
She shook her head. "Landon wouldn't let us go until I had caught the Snitch."  
  
Harry raised his eyebrows. "You need an hour and a half to catch the Snitch? It must've been going really fast today."  
  
Cho flushed pink. "Fifty minutes. I was, ugh, really distracted. Stressed out, really."  
  
Harry's mouth curved into a grin. "I know how to make you less stressed out- mind, it would still leave you distracted." Cho grinned too as she flung her arms around Harry, broomstick and all.  
  
"Don't you think being out here is kind of breaking our pact?" Harry asked as they paused. "Right in the middle of school grounds in front of the castle?"  
  
Cho shook her head again, running her hands through Harry's unruly dark hair. "No," she whispered. "I need a good distraction from a bad one."  
  
"Then I'm happy to be of service."  
  
They kissed again and Cho felt her whole body tingle with delight. Harry was a wonderful kisser- he knew exactly how hard to kiss her, and when to lighten or add pressure. He knew how to equally kiss both her lips and they sucking on the bottom one made her whole mouth open up wider while concentrating on her top lip gave him access to her tongue. He really did remind Cho of Cedric- how passionate and careful they both were with her. But she wasn't going to think of Cedric- not while she was with Harry anyway-  
  
Unconscious tears rolled down her face and she tasted the saltiness in accordance with Harry's lips. Harry stopped kissing her and looked at Cho. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing." She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robes. Cho leaned back over to kiss Harry again but he stopped her.  
  
"Cho, what's wrong?" repeated Harry. "It's Cedric, isn't it?"  
  
"No," she lied a little too quickly. Harry surveyed her face, just as Landon had. She felt her face get red again and looked down quickly. "It's just that, well," she chose her words carefully, "I'm really stressed out by the amount of homework I have and I'm so afraid Landon's gonna kick me off the team- I'm doing so terribly. He'd do me in for sure if he found out I'm snogging the Seeker and Captain of our rival team." She smiled weakly, and much to her relief, so did Harry.  
  
"Alright then," he said, taking her broomstick from her. He kissed her lips and smoothened back her wind-swept hair lightly. "I think you need some breakfast and rest, that's all."  
  
"But Harry, I can't afford to-" Cho stopped as Harry gave her a look. "I mean, ok."  
  
Looking satisfied, Harry took Cho's hand with his free one and they walked up to the castle, towards the Great Hall. "So how long do you think it's gonna be before people find out about us?" he asked, opening one of the big oak doors.  
  
"I don't know," she said truthfully. "We've been quite lucky that only Professor Dumbledore and Kiersten know." Cho had told Harry the day after she told Kiersten and at first, he was skeptical about her not telling anyone, but Cho had seemed to convince him.  
  
He glanced at Cho. "And she's not going to slip-"  
  
"No."  
  
Footsteps came from the corner of the Entrance Hall Harry and Cho were at, and they quickly dropped each others hands.  
  
Two girls emerged from the corner. "-I don't know, Lyn, I'm sure Cho-" the short-haired blonde girl stopped talking at the sight of Cho and Harry. Her companion next to her lifted her head.  
  
"I told you Cho coming soon. Honestly Kiersten.." Adelyn's violet-colored eyes traveled to Harry next to Cho. "Oh hello Harry." Her eyes darted down to Cho's broomstick, which was still in Harry's hand. "What kept you? And isn't that your broomstick…?"  
  
Kiersten sighed. "Lyn, don't badger the poor girl with endless questions! Can't you see she's already tired from getting up at the crack of down and playing Quidditch? It looks like Harry was helping her carry her broomstick too- how nice of you!" she interrupted loudly, eyeing Cho and winking at Harry at the same time.  
  
"But you never let me nor Kiersten even touch your-"  
  
"-you really think she'd trust us since you think Quidditch is a waste of time and I can't even PLAY Quidditch, much less mount a broomstick?"  
  
Adelyn pondered this thought. "So Cho, what kept you anyways?" she went on, completely ignoring Harry.  
  
"Well, errrr-" she looked startled as Harry handed her back her broom. "Oh, I'll see you around then Harry," she hintingly said as he slipped sideways away from the girls. "And thanks."  
  
"Don't mention it." And Harry sided up the stairs towards the Great Hall.  
  
Adelyn opened her mouth to speak again but Cho gave her a look. "Not now, Lyn, I'm famished." Her stomach did a sudden lurch as Cho's eyes wandered up to Harry's disappearing figure and she sighed.  
  
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That afternoon, Cho and Kiersten decided to walk along the lake while Adelyn had prefect duties. ("Just ditch it- they've got 21 others. Come with us- Joshua Ethers isn't the other Ravenclaw sixth year prefect for nothing, you know," Kiersten had said. Adelyn just looked at Kiersten as if she had suggested waking a sleeping dragon.) Kiersten was just rattling on about new gossip ("They say that we're not going to have another Hogsmeade trip until next year!" as a group of boys came towards them from the other side of the lake. Cho smiled as she realized it was Harry, the Weasley twins, and Lee Jordan. Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, probably had prefect duty like Adelyn. Cho looked sideways and her smile grew as Kiersten's eyes got wide and she patted down her hair. Kiersten had a horribly obvious crush on the twins, but they, being typical boys, were oblivious to the matter.  
  
"Hi Harry, Lee, *Fred*, *George*," Kiersten greeted loudly, emphasizing the last two names.  
  
Cho rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hello Kiersten, Cho," Fred replied casually. "How are you?"  
  
"Wonderful," said Kiersten breathlessly, tossing back her hair. "I'm absolutely wonderful at the moment. How are you?"  
  
Cho found it extremely hard not to start laughing.  
  
"Absolutely spiffing," George responded. "We were just looking for people."  
  
"Oh really? Maybe I could be of service?" Kiersten asked in her flirtatious, breathless voice.  
  
Very unluckily, Harry caught Cho's eye and they started coughing at the same time to hide their laughter. Kiersten shot them the evil eye as George started clapping Harry's back. "Working much too hard, our Quidditch captain," he said. "Landon's keeping you up to speed too, eh, Cho?"  
  
Lee nodded knowingly. "It's the Wood-craze, working the Quidditch players too hard, trying to do too much for the honor of the Cup."  
  
But Fred looked right at Kiersten, unaffected by the coughing. "Actually, Kiersten, you COULD help us."  
  
That comment made everyone look up. "Yes," George agreed. "Help would be much appreciated."  
  
"Err, Fred, George, I don't think it'd-" Harry interjected quickly.  
  
"Shush, Harry, Kiersten just wants to help," George said. "We'll walk and talk, Kiersten."  
  
Cho looked at Harry, who was ever so slightly shaking his head. He mouthed "Wheezes." Cho understood.  
  
"Errrr, but Kiersten, I need to talk to you abou-"  
  
"We'll talk later, Cho," Kiersten interrupted, smiling at Fred and George.  
  
Lee Jordan suddenly grinned. "I'll go too," he said as the four left towards the castle. Cho and Harry heard Fred ask a moment later "you DO like toffees, don't you Kiersten?"  
  
"They're gonna give her a Weasley's Wizarding Wheeze, aren't they?" Cho mumbled miserably, looking to her disappearing friend, Harry told her about the twins latest invention when she saw someone running out of the library with a bloody nose.  
  
Harry smiled and stopped by a big tree on the opposite side of the lake from the school.. "Yeah- don't worry about it though, Fred and George have tried it on billions of people. She'll just get a Nosebleed Nougat or a Fainting Fancy. It's safe- Hermione made sure." He sat down.  
  
"Speaking of fancies, don't Fred and George know Kiersten fancies them? She's so blatant that I'm surprised that she hasn't run around Hogwarts yelling "I love the Weasley Twins!" yet," Cho said, settling herself next to Harry.  
  
Harry laughed. "I still think Fred and George wouldn't get the point. Boys are very oblivious, you know?"  
  
Cho messed up his hair playfully. "Why are you special then?"  
  
"Because you're special."  
  
She loved it when he said things like that. She rewarded him with a kiss, long and gentle. When they parted, they were both out of the breath, but then Harry kissed her again. Cho felt swept off her feet by how passionate he was. She didn't even realize she was now lying on the ground until a patch of grass poked the back of her throat. Harry had half his weight on top of her and half of the ground beside her. Cho put her arms around his neck, kissing him harder, and he shifted more of his body onto her, leaving her breathless but quite warm by the closeness of her body.  
  
Cho now felt his hand, which was softly touching her face, travel down to her shoulders, past her chest, and to her knees. Her eyes widened as his hand went back up to the clasp of her robes in the middle of her chest and undid it. But she couldn't seem to speak- nothing could come out of that lump in her throat.  
  
His hands were moving again, down to her thighs. He traveled the length of the pleated grey skirt, down to where Cho's kneesocks and skirt hem met, exposing an inch of skin around her lower thighs. She consciously breathed in between the intimate kisses, as Harry's hands inched their way up her thighs towards her hip.  
  
"No, wait, Harry," she breathed in, finally finding her voice.  
  
His hands and lips stopped simultaneously as he looked at her with his bright green eyes. "You don't want this?" he asked quietly.  
  
She hugged him around his neck even tighter and brushed her lips across his. "Oh, I do Harry- I DO want this. But when we're ready," she whispered.  
  
Harry's warm hands left her thighs abruptly and he sat up, straightening his clothes. "Ok."  
  
Cho propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at him, her eyes scanning his face for an emotion- anything at all. But there was nothing.  
  
"Harry? You're not made at me, are you?"  
  
He moved himself back next to Cho and pulled out a blade of grass from her hair. "No, of course I'm not mad at you. I'm pissed off at myself. I promised myself that I would always be considerate of you, to never hurt you." Harry scowled. "And just a month in and I'm already pushing you."  
  
Cho leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Harry, you weren't pushing me. I was quite up to speed." She smiled but Harry still looked angry with himself. "Look, I really want you too- but when the time is right. And preferably not in prickly grass," she added.   
  
Harry looked at her with another skeptical look. "You're not mad at me? You don't hate me now?"  
  
Cho rolled her eyes. "And here I was, thinking that you were the only man on this earth not oblivious to a girl's needs." She smiled at him so reassuringly that all Harry could do was smile back at her and trust what she said was true.  
  
She patted him on the stomach. "Now we need to go find Kiersten- I'm really worried about what Fred and George have done to her."  
  
***Chapter 8: Short Synopsis: The Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch match gives Cho plenty more to think about.*** 


	9. The First Snitch: Part I

Disclaimer: you know the drill!! The HP series and all its characters are not mine- just this story! Oh yeah, and those lines about Ron and Cho's conversation- ALL JK Rowling- just thought it'd be interesting to put it! Anyways, I hardly have enough money for college! You think I'd even TRY to copy someone else's work?!  
  
Author's Note: I finished this chapter for quite awhile but I've had trouble typing it up. I'm very lazy if you can't tell! This chapter is about Quidditch- pretty much. And I couldn't help but put Draco Malfoy in there- he's a very hot character! Not much to talk about, except to warn you about that R-rated chapter in the VERY near future. *smirks* Probably next chapter, maybe the chapter after- mostly likely next chapter. And no, I haven't even started writing it! I was going to post this a month ago but I haven't had time between packing and all that good stuff that you do before college, esp. hanging out with your friends, etc. But here I am now in college- hopefully I could get my next chapter out soon. I might not have enough inspiration. Do you think there's a support group for HP lovers over here? LOL, I'd be the president. Hmmmmm- maybe now. ooh, what a good idea Mindy! A lot of what I'm thinking about my story now is a bit influenced from OotP- just a little. Like how Gryffindor and Slytherin played the first Quidditch match. And Ron and Cho's little conversation- I always thought that was funny, so I reenacted it for my story. But don't worry, I'm not following the OotP story line at all- just getting ideas from it. And I decided that since this story is ten-pages long, I HAVE to spilt it up like I did for the fourth chapter. I'll post the second part a week from now- sound good?  
  
Rating (chapter 8): PG  
  
Thanks to: eeeekkkkk, I LOVE reviews!! You guys are sooooo awesome by clicking that review button! Energeezer, prayer, I Love Cho, zou-chang, hippyman69- thanks for taking the time to review- it means so much! The Nick that emailed me, telling me to get my butt on the keyboard, thanks! ^_^ I know there's more reviewers, but my computer won't upload them! I love writing and just hearing great responses on my fic is just amazing. Writing has always been a passion for me, and HP is just a great big obsession for me- putting it together is just so wonderful!  
  
^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^  
  
The Year After: Cho's Story  
  
Chapter 8: Part 1- The First Snitch  
  
It turned out that the Weasley twins did give Kiersten one of their prank candies. As Kiersten told Cho at dinner, after she had what looked like a simple orange toffee from George, she soon woke up on the green lawn with a purple toffee in her mouth and Fred, George, and Lee leaning over her, grinning.  
  
Cho sniffled a giggle. She learned last year not to take anything from the twins, after being given a custard cream, which turned her into a temporary yellow canary.  
  
Kiersten's crush for the twins, instead of lessening, only grew more as she went on how clever they were and so on.  
  
The week before Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's first Quidditch match went by faster than Cho would've wished. But the week was far better than her past weeks. She was regaining her confidence at each practice and even managed to catch the Snitch three times before practice ended Friday. She hadn't received anything less than an Acceptable on her papers as well, much to her relief.  
  
Landon, who Cho believed was only slightly less relieved than Cho herself on her performance, beamed all throughout dinner and during the pre-game rally in the Ravenclaw Common Room. He soon ordered his team to bed early into the night before the sun set, a usual pre-game tradition for Ravenclaw.  
  
As Cho was searching throughout her things to find her comb, her hand brushed across Cedric's yellow journal. She looked at it guiltingly. Ever since she started going out with Harry, Cho had completely forgotten about the journal. She picked it up slowly, as if afraid what the book might do to her. It wasn't that Cho had forgotten about Cedric- no, he still popped up in her mind occasionally, as if she forgot he was gone.  
  
Another pang of guilt filled Cho's heart. She opened up the book to another random page and stared almost fearfully at what the journal was going to say. It was dated early December. Cho's eyes widened as she read.  
  
'I asked Cho Chang to the Yule Ball at the beginning of last week. As soon as I heard I had to have a date to the Yule Ball, I knew that it had to be her and after looking around for her for quite awhile, I asked if I could have a word with her. She actually looked completely surprised and blushed a great shade of red when she said ok. I had thought she'd known all along that I liked her- nice to know that her best friend, Kiersten Jolie, could keep a secret! Asking Cho out- the completely unexpected task. If I had a choice, I'd go past that Chinese Fireball again. Turns out that Cho had quite a few other guys ask her out- lucky I did first. Right as I was coming down the stairs this evening to go to dinner, I caught a glimpse of the back of Cho's head. I was going to go over to talk to her, but she was already talking to someone in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. As I noticed it was Harry, I curiously watched them talk- or rather, watched Harry sputter as Cho looked at him with a concerned look on her face. The poor guy! I realized that he was asking Cho to the Yule Ball too. I never realized that Harry had fancied Cho as well. Part of me feels guilty- Harry DID tell me about our first task and now I replay him by taking a girl he fancies to the Yule Ball? I have decided though, that I'd help Harry If I found anything about that bloody shrilly egg. I wouldn't give Cho up to him though- no, not even He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named could make me give her up.'  
  
Cho shuddered at Cedric's choice of words. Oh, if he had known what would happen to him in seven months time after he had written this entry. She felt tears well up in her eyes again as she put Cedric's journal safely away in her nightstand.  
  
"Oh Ced, why did you have to be champion?" Cho muttered softly under her breath, tears finally spilling down on her nightgown.  
  
She then heard distinct footsteps coming up the stairs and the sound of giggling. Cho hastily threw herself under her bed covers and turned herself away from the door just as Kiersten and Jessica walked in, giggling. "Oooh, shhh- Cho's asleep," she heard Jessica whisper.  
  
But sleep was the last thing on Cho's mind. What if Cedric hadn't died- what if he had come back with Harry, very much alive and well? Would she still be with Cedric? Or would she be with Harry?  
  
The winding question of who Cho would pick between Cedric and Harry wound around in her thoughts all night, even long after Adelyn and Tabitha returned to the dormitory late in the night. Exhausted by the heavy thoughts whirling in her head, Cho finally fell in a fitful sleep, accompanied with odd dreams of Cedric and Harry during the Triwizard Tournament.  
  
"Cho! CHO!"  
  
Cho opened her eyes, her face in a heavy sweat as Kiersten peered over concerned. Cho pushed herself up on her elbows, looking around the room. Noone else except for them was awake.  
  
"Are you ok, Cho?" asked Kiersten quietly, her face now lidded with fright as Cho fell back on her pillow. "You were muttering louder and louder in your sleep. Something about Harry, and then Cedric. I don't think you wanted the others to hear you."  
  
"I'm-I'm fine," said Cho breathlessly, scrunching up her eyes and throwing her arms around her face. Cedric was still swimming around in her mind, lying on the ground, eagle-spread. Seemingly- dead. Kiersten sat down next to her, silent. Cho wiped her sweaty face and looked up at Kiersten, her own concerned face brightened by sunshine. "What time is it?" Cho muttered after awhile, groping for her wand.  
  
"Quarter before seven," confirmed Kiersten. "You- hold on, breakfast isn't until awhile- Cho, where're you going?" For Cho had leapt out of bed and crossed over to her closet, in which hung her robes. She quickly changed into them and headed towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. "I'll see you at breakfast, Kiersten," was all Cho said before closing the door behind her.  
  
As Cho came down the stairs to the Ravenclaw Common Room, noone was in sight. She wasn't surprised- everyone usually wasn't up until half past seven. Relieved that Landon suggested that they all left their brooms in the locker room after yesterday's practice, Cho strolled out from behind the statue of the Knight and just started walking. She didn't' care where, but she just felt like walking.  
  
"Cho!"  
  
She whirled around, and with a heavy heart, saw Harry jogging towards her All she wanted to do was to be alone at the moment.  
  
"What's wrong?" Harry questioned. He looked right at her with his bright green emerald eyes. "You're supposed to be getting more rest before the match. Why are you up so early?"  
  
"I-just-fancied a walk," Cho heard herself respond with dead quietness in her voice.  
  
Harry looked at her quizzingly. "Well, I'm going up to the Owlery myself- come with me?" Even though he asked this as a request, Cho knew from his eyes that it was a statement.  
  
They walked silently next to each other, towards the Owlery Tower.  
  
"Cho, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing," she replied quickly, her mind still on the odd dream she had. Cho tried to change the subject by glancing down at the letter in Harry's hand. "Who are you sending a letter to, Harry?" she asked curiously, cocking her head to the side to try to make out the name on the envelope.  
  
He slid his hand over the name. "My godfather," he said simply.  
  
Cho found this to be new news. "Godfather? Is he a wizard?" Harry nodded. "But I thought you lived with your Muggle relatives."  
  
"I do- my godfather just has too much going on for me to be living with him now," responded Harry casually as they reached the stone staircase of the Owlery tower.  
  
Harry had said this in a voice which meant he didn't want to talk about his godfather anymore. S intrigued as she was about this subject, for Cho never knew Harry had any relations inside the Wizarding world, she dropped the subject.  
  
They stepped into the drafty, cold oval-shaped. A damp stink of owl pellets filled the room and Cho watched as Harry made his way to a beautiful white owl. Cho looked around the room, her eyes settling on her own tawny owl, fittingly called Tawny, resting with her head under her wing. Carefully avoiding dropping scattered all over the stone floor, Cho followed Harry as he was trying to coax down his owl.  
  
"Hedwig, HEDWIG!" he whispered loudly. The snowy owl lifted her face from underneath her wing and glared at Harry reproachfully. "Oh, come Hedwig. I need you to go to London for me. Don't give me that look- you haven't had to deliver anything for a week now." Hedwig's large amber eyes just looked at Harry and she hooted annoyed-like at him before coming down off her ledge.  
  
Cho gazed at the beautiful owl, her hand rising from her side, aching to pet it's silky feathers. Harry smiled at her. "Go on- she loves being admired," he assured her. "Hedwig, this is Cho- you could find her if I wanted you to, right?"  
  
Hedwig responded with a happy hoot and Cho beamed, stroking her soft feathers as Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg. "I need this to go to my godfather, alright Hedwig? I need you to wait for his reply too." And with a last hoot, the snowy owl was lifted to the window by Harry and flew off.  
  
"She's beautiful," Cho said breathlessly.  
  
"Well, she is when she's in a good mood, but she sure could be a right pain in the-" Harry stopped as the door to the Owlery opened.  
  
A boy with white-blonde hair stepped in, grasping a large manila envelope. Oddly enough, he was alone.  
  
Cho heard Harry finish his sentence, loud and distinct. "-arse."  
  
Draco Malfoy looked up and looked startled by the sight of Harry and Cho. He sneered at Harry. "Should've guessed. Potty, do you live here now? It's sure filling up with your stench quickly."  
  
Cho looked sideways and saw Harry's fist ball up next to her. "Better than the stench you give out Malfoy- I thought by the look of your mother, she always had dung under her nose. Should've guessed it was the stench of her own son-"  
  
Both boys glared at each other, eyes narrowed in equal dislike. The whole school knew of Harry and Malfoy's popular hatred of one another, but Cho, herself, had never experienced it first hand. She tugged on Harry's sleeve. "C'mon Harry- drop it. Let's go."  
  
It was as if Malfoy only saw Cho standing there. His scowl turned into a smirk. "Got yourself a new girlfriend, Potter? What happened to Weasel Brat? Dropped her finally, realized her family was no good, eh? I could've told you her Mudblood-loving family was as low-classed as low could go."  
  
Harry was now positively shaking with anger. Cho knew that Harry was quite close to the Weasley family, and she couldn't blame him for getting angry. Cho felt her whole face heat up as well. "Seriously, Malfoy, look at yourself before talking about who's really low-classed," Cho snapped quietly.  
  
Surprisingly, Malfoy just started laughing. "All aspects except wealth and power, Chang, and those are what matter most in life. But if you want to talk about being serious, why not? Come now Potter, let's all sit and talk about the seriousness of things."  
  
Cho looked quizzingly at Harry, who now looked almost frightened by Malfoy's words. He walked forwards and pushed past Malfoy's shoulder harshly with his own. Cho followed him out the door as Malfoy called behind them. "If you ARE Potty's girlfriend Chang, I hope you like dogs! Great big black ones!" Malfoy's cackle echoed after them, even as they reached the corridors. She kept on stealing glances at Harry, who had a stone look on his face.  
  
Cho frowned. "What was that supposed to mean?" Cho wondered outloud. She looked at Harry.  
  
He shrugged and said quickly "I don't know." Cho always thought that boys were the worst liars.  
  
Cho then thought of something else. "Do you think Malfoy'd figure out about us and tell everyone?"  
  
Harry managed to give her a reassured look. "Malfoy's got his head stuck so far up his arse that he wouldn't figure out we're together even if I had my tongue down your throat." He smiled but then saw Cho's unconvinced face and went on. "You're too popular anyways- noone would ever think that you're my girlfriend."  
  
Cho rolled her eyes. "Me- popular, as compared to The-Boy-Who-Lived?"  
  
Harry just looked at her. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to be popular like me- now known as The-Boy-Who's-Crazy-And-Craves-Attention."  
  
He looked at Cho so mournfully that she slid her hand into his and just gave him a simple, encouraging smile. 


	10. The First Snitch: Part II

**Disclaimer:** all HP stuff are all by the genius, the goddess, JK Rowling- the plot and some of the characters are mine though- but thank JKR for giving me the inspiration! Oh, and the Cho/Ron conversation is JKR's- it's all hers!

**Author's Note:** EEEEEKKKK! I AM SO SORRY EVERYONE!!! sobs I've been getting complaints, threatenings, and a lot of scolding- but believe me, freshman year in college is easier said than done!

So this is the second part of the 8th chapter. This chapter is actually 8 pages long on paper, so I figured, why not split it up?

I've been done with this chapter for about a YEAR now, except for the very LAST few paragraphs- I had no idea how to finish it up, but I thought it up, about 6 months later, when I was on the plane going back home from college.

So here it is- I hope it's what everyone expected and more!

And btw, I'm REALLY sorry, but I couldn't HELP but use the Ron/Cho conversation in the fifth book. It was funny!

No guarantees when I'm gonna get the 9th chapter out. Right now, it's still a working progress and it will be hot and steamy and EVERYTHING that everyone wants in sexual Cho and Harry, but I'm not getting any either for a month, so hmph. We'll see where this all goes!

**Rating:** PG

**Thanks to:** ALL MY SUPPORTERS! Everyone who's STILL reading this!! From probably almost a year ago, my readers Sorina, LeggyLuver, Vash-chan aka Makoto Almasy, Dragoon knight, Jolie, Koreanflag, Nick C, Chris, and everyone else who reviewed/sent me stuff!!! I wouldn't be back here writing this if it weren't for all of you! Please keep those emails and comments coming in!

O O O O O O O O O O O O

**The Year After: Cho's Story**

_Chapter 8: Part 2- The First Snitch_

Harry and Cho soon got to the seventh floor landing, where it was apparent that breakfast was to start as students started to mill around. Cho loosened her hand from Harry's before they reached the corridor, and waved to a couple of Ravenclaw girls who greeted Cho. But they quickly backed away, muttering as they say Harry walking next to Cho. Cho heard his distinct sigh next to her and she softly begged him not to mind them.

Cho had never walked in the crowded corridors with Harry before, but she soon found out little of what it was like to be him. She, herself, had to endure whispers and hushed comments for the few months after Cedric died, but never to this extent. Head turned around to watch Harry pass by, younger students completely inched far away from Harry as much as possible, as if he were a disease. There were muffled whispers, sniffled words, and mumbling heard, not clearly, but very obviously. Harry walked through the corridors acting oblivious to this all, but Cho turned to everyone she could and gave them all dirty looks. Snide remarks came from a group of Slytherins, in which Cho recognized as Draco Malfoy's usual posse. Harry always came back with a comeback and a laugh to the Slytherins, yet today he passed by the group, who were shrieking with laughter, without a word.

"Harry, something up?" asked Cho, concerned by his odd behavior.

Harry looked at her as if he just realized she was still there. "Huh? Oh yeah, fine, just fine," he said, starting at a fixed point in front of him, his hand unconsciously rubbing the scar on his forehead.

"WHAT is everyone's problem" Cho asked, exasperatedly, staring meningcingly at a group of Hufflepuff first year, who were pointing at Harry. Harry looked at her again and then looked around. He laughed. "You mean how everyone's gawking at me? I've gotten quite used to it after almost five years. Remember, there was a time when I was actually invisible," replied Harry, grinning. "Besides, there are more things to worry about in life than what people think of you."

Cho, who had always thought otherwise, didn't say anything.

They rounded the corner and ran right into tall, red-haired Ron Weasley and bushy-haired Hermione Granger. "Oops! Oh, sorry Cho!" exclaimed Hermione, who had really bumped into Cho.

Cho smiled weakly and said it was ok as Ron turned to Harry. "We've been looking all over the castle for you all morning, mate! Did you go and send that-." But he stopped abruptly as Hermione discreetly stepped on his toes.

"Yeah, I went up to the Owlery and ran into Cho," replied Harry. Harry didn't care to include the fact that he met Cho before he went to the Owlery.

Ron nodded, but Cho noticed that Hermione just gave Harry a coy smile. 'She knows,' Cho realized. But that wasn't anything surprising- Hermione was one of the cleverest students at Hogwarts. Cho knew this because they had Arithmancy together. And Hermione was a girl- girls just understood these things.

"Is that a Tornadoes badge?"

Cho focused her attention back on Ron. "Sorry?"

"Is that a Tornadoes badge?" Ron repeated slowly. "On your robes."

Cho looked down to where he was pointing. She did indeed have a badge on, embolized with two gold T's with a sky-blue colored background. "Yeah, I support the Tornadoes. Why?"

"Did you only start liking them this year?" Ron demanded?

Cho just stared at him. "No, I've been supporting them since I was six," she responded coolly, trying to ignore Ron's rudeness. "Anyways, I'd better be going. I have to get something to eat before the match or Landon might yell at me again. I'll see you all later." She scurried off before anyone could protest, but before she heard Hermione hiss "You're so tactless, Ron!" Cho smiled amusingly.

At the Great Hall, Landon was up out of his seat, scampering up and down the Ravenclaw table, counting his team. Cho came just in time as Landon was almost in hysterics because noone had seen their Seeker. As soon as Cho sat down next to Micheal, a humongous plate stacked high with hot cakes, sausages, eggs, and bacon was passed over to her. Landon apparently had read the Daily Prophet Sports Section, which was filled each week with new tips on how to succeed in Quidditch.

"Landon, this is going to give me a heart attack even before I walk onto the field," Cho protested, pushing the plate over to Micheal, who started to dig his fork into it. Cho watched him humorously. The boy was like a human dustbin, but Cho probably would never know if he or Kiersten would win the prize for the "healthiest" appetite.

"Maybe you should really eat a bit more, Cho?" Kiersten, who was across from Micheal, asked as Cho poured herself some coffee and chewed on some toast. Cho shrugged. "I don't have a high metabolism like some people I know," Cho replied, cracking a smile as Kiersten helped herself to a second helping of, well, everything.

Micheal looked up at Cho. "That would mean that Landon doesn't have high metabolism too." That diverted everyone's attention to their captain, who was shouting down to the other end of the table to Drewan, Stephen, and Kevin that they should load up on more starches. Landon's plate contained of nothing but a small bowl of untouched oatmeal.

"I'm nervous, stop it!" Landon retorted as Micheal tried to shove a spoonful of eggs into Landon's mouth.

Micheal looked hurt. "But oh captain, my captain!" he exclaimed.

Landon just ignored him, checked his watch, and declared it was time to get ready. The team made their way out of the Hall with many shouts of good luck from their supporters. Cho gave a quick glance at the Gryffindor table and beamed as she saw Harry give her a little thumbs up and a smile.

When they got down to the locker room, Cho clearly saw the excitement of the match had set in, mostly to the new players. Stephen had taken to unbuttoning and buttoning the same button over and over again, his eyes lowered down at the ground. Kevin's face was a pasty white color as he just sat on a chair, with a glassy look in his eyes as he stared on a single spot in space. Drewan looked most calm out of all the new players- he had this determined look on his face, but his voice was cracking as he made forced conversation with Micheal while waxing the same spot on his broom over and over again. Julian was looking through the Quidditch Weekly paper, while new captain Landon could be seen pacing around the Captain's Office, mumbling to himself. Micheal was, of course, his cheerful self, babbled on and on about the Chudley Cannons latest season.

"Landon, no famous last words before we start our first match of the season?" Julian suddenly asked, looking up from his paper.

Landon, who was still mumbling to himself while drawing on the team board, jumped. "Errr, what?"

"The match- doesn't it start in ten minutes?"

Landon looked at his watch. "Crikey, doesn't anyone ever watch the time anymore?! I don't even have time to give you my short speech."

"Awwww, our wonderful cap'ian had a few little well-rehearsed words!!!" Micheal looked very interested in hearing the speech.

"Well, no matter, we haven't got any time before the match anymore- everyone knows what they're to do- just stick to what we did in practice and we'll do splendid!"

A gagging sound came from behind Cho and everyone looked over to see Stephen emerge from a trash barrel, looking both yellow from sickness and red from embarrassment at the same time.

"Alright there, Stephen?" Landon questioned, looking a bit alarmed.

All Stephen could do was nod.

Micheal clapped Stephen's back as the whole team shouldered their brooms and followed Landon out to the pitch. "You'll be alright, old chap. I remember my first Quidditch match a couple of years ago. I threw up all over Hooch- it was quite amusing, to tell you the truth. Her face was one of the most hilarious things that I will ever see in my life- but she hasn't quite gotten to talking to me anymore- poor thing is still scared of coming close to me I guess."

Stephen didn't dare look at Hooch that whole match, just incase she would cause another unintentional sick-to-the-stomach feeling.

"And lead by Captain and Keeper Matts are the Ravenclaw team. Their new additions include Chaser Lisle, and Beaters Cornfoot and Entwistle, and returnees Chasers Keats and Blake, with Seeker Chang!" was the loudly magnified voice of commentator Lee Jordan as the Ravenclaw team stepped out on the crisp grass. Cho beamed at the roar of the crowd and felt like she was just freshly revived. The day provided an overcast, which meant she would have an easier time looking for the Snitch.

"You alright there, Cho?" Landon asked behind her.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's the perfect day to be looking for the Snitch today, Landon. Don't worry about me, I'll be ok."

"Alright, we're counting on you Cho."

Micheal looking hurt next to her. "And you're not counting on me?"

"If you knew how to score, he'd be counting on you," replied Julian.

Micheal snorted. "Sorry if I'm not as good as the ever excellent Drewan Lisle."

Next to Julian, Drewan was turning a pale green color as he watched the Hufflepuff team emerge from their locker room from the opposite side.

"Drewan, you're an awesome Chaser and we all know that. Just don't think about the crowd and just play like you're out there alone," Cho advised him. It was good advice, but all Drewan could think about was the hundreds of students watching his every move.

Madam Hooch appeared with her whistle. "Now I want a good clean game. Captains shake hands." Cho looked forward and expected Cedric there, shaking hands with Landon. She smiled as she saw them approach each other, but instead she saw Brandon Summers shaking Landon's hand. Cho was about to ask what happened and why Cedric wasn't playing today until the truth sank into her- again.

"Players, mount your brooms." Madam Hooch kicked the wooden crate open, and out flew the two Bludgers and, right before it flew off quickly, Cho briefly saw the Golden Snitch.

Madam Hooch reached over and picked up the Quaffle. A moment later, the whistle sounded, the Quaffle was thrown up, and Cho kicked off the ground. She rose up high over the actual game and scanned around her for the Snitch. On the opposite side of the field, she saw Cedric do the same- no, not Cedric, she thought. It was the new Seeker, Laura Madley. Cho, again, had half-expected, unknowingly, that it was Cedric who was the Hufflepuff Seeker.

"Oh, get a grip on yourself Cho," she mumbled to herself, watching Micheal pass the Quaffle to an unusually nervous Drewan, who dropped the Quaffle. Luckily, Julian was ready for this and picked it up from below Drewan. He tossed the Quaffle back to Micheal, who scored.

"And that's 10-nil to Ravenclaw after that close shave!" roared Lee.

Cho saw Drewan shake his head and talk to himself as he chased after the Hufflepuff Chasers to the other side of the pitch. Suddenly, a Bludger came pelting at Cho out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't prepared to duck and clung tightly onto her broom to try to hold on after impact. Suddenly, Kevin came flying out of nowhere and struck the Bludger towards the Hufflepuff Chasers. "Thanks Kevin!" Cho gasped as he sped away. He yelled a "No problem!" and looked for some more Bludgers to beat around.

Cho soon became quite bored at looking for the Snitch as the time wore away. Ravenclaw was now up 130-80, and much to Ravenclaw's relief, Drewan had loosened up in the past half an hour, and in fact, scored the last five goals. Kevin and Stephen were also doing well as they unseated a Chaser, blocked a few potential goals, and even distracted the Hufflepuff Keeper long enough to let Julian slide by and score.

"Cho! Landon says to stop gawking!" hollered Julian as he passed Cho by, followed by Drewan, who had taken back the Quaffle from their side of the pitch. Cho rolled her eyes- she only stopped looking for a minute and Landon was already on her case.

Another roar of the crowd let Cho know that Ravenclaw had scored again. The game had now gone more than half an hour in and the Snitch was nowhere to be seen. Laura didn't seem to have any luck as well as she passed paths by Cho and started yawning.

Cho suddenly saw a glint of gold encircling Landon's right goal post. She excitedly flew towards Ravenclaw's end of the pitch, first carefully looking for Laura, who was searching for the Snitch around the benches. Cho raced towards the Snitch, ducking Bludgers and weaving through Chasers. Before Laura had even seen Cho, the Snitch was already safely enclosed in Cho's right hand. Cho landed next to her team in time to hear Lee announce that the game was over.

"I don't believe it took you that long to catch it, Cho," groaned Micheal, who was knocked in the side twice by Bludgers. But noone else seemed to mind as the team left the pitch, talking spiritedly about the game.

Suddenly, someone bumped into a person next to Cho, causing a Domino effect of bumping. Something was squeezed into her hand, and she quickly looked around. At the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar head of unruly black hair walk quickly away. Cho opened up the folded note and grinned. Harry's scrawny handwriting read "Tonight after dinner, front of the stairs."

Cho refolded the note and wondered what in the world had to wait until after dinner. Whatever it was, it was only a few more hours until she found out.

OOOChapter 9: Short Synopsis: Things get serious as well as steamy, and feelings are just too irresistible to be ignored.OOO


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